Afro-Lineal

INTRODUCTION

The public, media, and even most law enforcement officials, have traditionally associated the term “organized crime” with Italian ethnic criminal syndicates, commonly called La Cosa Nostra (LCN) or the Mafia. To counter this narrow point of view, the State Commission of Investigation (SCI or Commission) has, for some time, emphasized that LCN, while a serious problem, represents only part of the organized underworld which preys on New Jersey and the rest of the country. Among the criminal groups which should receive more attention than they have in the past are those of African ethnic background. Such Afro-lineal organized crime -- composed exclusively or predominantly of persons of African ancestry -- includes criminal syndicates of African-Americans, Jamaicans, Nigerians and others. The neglect of this problem stems, in part, from the erroneous stereotype that African ethnic groups lack the stability to organize and are not capable of structuring a syndicate of any consequence. In addition, law enforcement resources are limited, and they have been devoted...