1997 in organized crime

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Events

The gangs of Çole, Gaxhai and Pusi i Mezinit are established in Vlorë amidst the 1997 Albanian civil unrest.
January 7 – "Fat" Herbie Blitzstein was shot to death inside his Las Vegas townhouse.
June 6 – Arrest of Pietro Aglieri, boss of the Santa Maria di Gesù Mafia family in Palermo, in a disused lemon warehouse in the dilapidated industrial area Bagheria together with his "right hand" men, Natale Gambino and Giuseppe La Mattina. It took the authorities almost a year to locate him following the arrest of his right-hand man Carlo Greco. Apparently, Giovanni Brusca, a Riina loyalist arrested in May 1996, helped police identify Aglieri. He had been on the run since 1989.^[1]
August – Masaru Takumi, the founding head of the Takumi-gumi, a large branch of the Yamaguchi-gumi, was assassinated by the Nakano-kai.^[2]

January – Victor Spilotro, Chicago mobster and brother of Anthony Spilotro and Michael Spilotro
January 2 – Sam Carlisi "Wings", Chicago Outfit boss
May 31 – Johnny Papalia is murdered by Kenneth Murdock
June 7 – Sam DeCavalcante "The Plumber", retired boss of the New Jersey mafia family
August 28 – Masaru Takumi, founding head of the Takumi-gumi
October 22 – Matthew "Mike" Trupiano Jr., St. Louis mafia boss^[3]

^ Mafia's rising star arrested in dawn raid, The Independent, June 7, 1997.
^ "Osaka Police Nab Another Yakuza Boss as Crackdown Continues", December 1, 2010, The Wall Street Journal
^ "Matthew Trupiano, Known As Leader of Area Mob, Dies At 58," by Harry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 24, 1997.