The era of Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1933 in the United States, is often romanticized in popular culture. Images of flappers, speakeasies, and gangsters like Al Capone have become iconic symbols of the Roaring Twenties. But underneath the glitz and glamor, Prohibition had a dark side. By banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution inadvertently fueled the meteoric rise of organized crime in America.
Criminal organizations, most notably the Mafia, took advantage of the huge illegal market for alcohol that Prohibition created practically overnight. They cornered the market on the illegal alcohol trade, smuggling liquor in from other countries and operating massive bootlegging operations to keep America’s glasses full, despite the nationwide ban. In the process, these organized crime groups saw their wealth, power, and influence grow to unprecedented heights.
So how exactly did Prohibition enable the rise of powerful criminal enterprises in the U.S.? Let‘s examine 10 key reasons:
1. Prohibition Created a Massively Lucrative Illegal Market for Alcohol
While Prohibition banned the legal manufacture and sale of alcohol, it did little to curb America‘s thirst for it. Drinking was simply driven underground. According to some estimates, there were upwards of 200,000 illegal bars, or speakeasies, operating in the U.S. during Prohibition. This created an incredibly lucrative black market for booze.
Organized crime groups like the Mafia in New York and Chicago, as well as countless local gangs in cities across the country, quickly seized control of this illegal alcohol trade. With the huge amounts of money to be made, the Mob muscled out or killed off smaller competitors to consolidate their grip on the market. Infamous mob bosses like Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Al Capone built vast criminal empires on the backs of illegal booze. At the height of Prohibition, Capone‘s operation was estimated to be pulling in $100 million a year in alcohol sales alone (equivalent to over $1 billion today).
2. Smuggling Operations Supplied Alcohol from Abroad
To meet the immense demand for alcohol, organized crime groups established extensive smuggling operations to import liquor from other countries where it was still legal, most notably Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean nations like Cuba and the Bahamas. Entire fleets of ships, often operating under the cover of darkness, would unload their illegal cargo along the coasts and waterways of the U.S.
Criminal organizations would then distribute the smuggled alcohol through networks of trucks, boats, and even submarines to speakeasies across the country. The infamous "Rum Row" was a line of ships anchored off the East Coast that stretched from Maine to Florida, serving as offshore liquor warehouses for smugglers who would then ferry the alcohol to shore in smaller, faster vessels under cover of night. It‘s estimated that the majority of alcohol consumed in the U.S. during Prohibition entered the country illegally through organized smuggling operations.
3. Speakeasies Proliferated, Many Under Mob Control
With bars and taverns shuttered under Prohibition, Americans still looking to drink had to turn to illegal establishments known as speakeasies. These secret bars, often hidden behind innocuous fronts like soda shops or grocery stores, cropped up by the thousands in cities and towns across the country. It‘s estimated there were up to 200,000 speakeasies operating in the U.S. at the height of Prohibition.
Organized crime outfits were quick to muscle in on the speakeasy racket. Many of the most popular speakeasies were owned or controlled by gangs who used them as profitable fronts for their bootlegging operations. Infamous New York speakeasies like the 21 Club and the Cotton Club had deep ties to the Mafia. Mob-controlled speakeasies not only provided a steady stream of income, but also served as gathering spots for gangsters to plot their criminal enterprises.
4. Bootlegging Operations Run by Mobsters Manufactured Illegal Alcohol
In addition to smuggling alcohol in from other countries, organized crime groups operated massive bootlegging facilities to keep up with demand, manufacturing their own counterfeit liquor to supply their speakeasies and other black market customers. Bootlegging operations became a major source of income for mobsters.
Bootleg alcohol was often of inferior quality and even contained dangerous ingredients like industrial alcohol, but the huge profit margins made it irresistible for organized crime groups. Many of the most powerful Prohibition-era gangsters, like Capone and Luciano, made their fortunes primarily through bootlegging. These bootlegging operations required sprawling distribution networks, which the Mob used its manpower and political connections to build and protect.
5. Organized Crime‘s Power and Influence Reached New Heights
The huge amounts of money pouring in from the illegal alcohol trade allowed organized crime groups to extend their power and influence to unprecedented levels during Prohibition. Flush with cash, the Mob could easily bribe police, politicians, and judges to look the other way or even provide tips to help gangsters evade the law.
Many law enforcement agents and public officials were on gang payrolls during Prohibition. The Mob‘s political influence allowed it to operate largely with impunity. Witnesses set to testify against Mob leaders would suddenly recant or turn up dead. Politicians who stood in the way of gang interests often met a similar fate, as in the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago where Capone’s men gunned down seven members of a rival gang led by Bugs Moran, likely with the complicity of local police.
6. Prohibition Was Difficult and Dangerous to Enforce
The sheer scale of criminal activity during Prohibition overwhelmed law enforcement agencies, which were often underfunded and prone to widespread corruption. Only around 1,500 federal agents were initially tasked with enforcing the alcohol ban across the entire U.S. Even when this force was expanded, it was still woefully inadequate to stem the tide of illegal booze.
Prohibition agents, colloquially known as "dry agents", had an incredibly dangerous job. They were frequent targets for mob violence and revenge. Alcohol raids carried out by Prohibition agents often turned into deadly gun battles with armed gangsters. Between 1920 and 1933, more than 2,500 civilians were killed by Prohibition agents, and more than 1,600 agents died in the line of duty. The St. Valentine‘s Day Massacre, which left seven men dead, served as a stark example of the risks agents faced when taking on powerful organized crime groups.
7. Corruption Reached the Highest Levels of Government
While publicly supporting Prohibition and the criminalization of alcohol, many politicians continued drinking behind closed doors, obtaining their booze from the flourishing criminal underworld. This exposed politicians to blackmail and encouraged widespread corruption, as organized crime groups used their political connections to expand and protect their illegal empires.
Even in the White House, alcohol continued to flow freely throughout Prohibition. President Harding kept the White House well-stocked with bootleg liquor obtained by his corrupt Attorney General Harry Daugherty. Maryland governor Albert Ritchie allowed organized crime groups free reign in exchange for generous campaign contributions. Canadian liquor flowed freely through Detroit thanks to the protection of Mayor John Smith. Collusion between gangsters and government officials reached astonishing levels that would have been unthinkable just years earlier.
8. Prohibition Normalized and Glamorized Criminal Behavior
By criminalizing a common behavior that was previously legal and socially acceptable, Prohibition normalized vice and criminality on an unprecedented scale. Millions of ordinary Americans were turned into criminals overnight for simply having a drink. Law-abiding citizens found themselves rubbing shoulders with gangsters and bootleggers in speakeasies. Criminal behavior lost much of its stigma as people continued to drink illegally without social consequences.
At the same time, Prohibition had the effect of glamorizing underworld figures in the public imagination. Al Capone and other powerful mob bosses became national celebrities, despite (or perhaps because of) their reputations as ruthless criminals. Newspapers and tabloids breathlessly reported on bloody gang wars and the lavish lifestyles of mob kingpins like Capone, who welcomed the spotlight. The flashy speakeasies, jazz clubs, and casinos that emerged during Prohibition lent organized crime an attractive veneer of elegance and excitement that persists to this day in pop culture depictions.
9. Repeal Left Organized Crime More Powerful Than Ever
When Prohibition was finally repealed in 1933 with the ratification of the 21st Amendment, organized crime groups did not fade quietly into the background. On the contrary, they emerged from Prohibition wealthier and more influential than ever before. Although they no longer had a monopoly on the alcohol trade, their ill-gotten Prohibition profits had allowed them to diversify into a range of other criminal enterprises, including gambling, extortion, loan sharking, narcotics, and labor racketeering.
The political power and corrupt connections Mob leaders had cultivated during Prohibition allowed them to expand these other revenue streams with relative impunity. Men like Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky continued to rule the underworld long after repeal, transforming their Prohibition-era bootlegging gangs into sophisticated national crime syndicates. The Mafia and other organized crime groups entrenched during Prohibition would go on to dominate the underworld for decades, with an influence that persists to this day.
10. Organized Crime Looked to New Illegal Enterprises
While the end of Prohibition meant the Mafia and other gangs no longer had a monopoly on the booze business, it also freed them up to focus on a range of other criminal pursuits. Organized crime groups seamlessly transitioned to gambling, narcotics, racketeering, extortion, and other rackets that had been a lower priority during the Prohibition years.
Mafia leaders used the wealth and connections they had amassed from bootlegging to expand their criminal portfolios and extend their power into labor unions, legitimate businesses, and the political establishment. Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel expanded into gambling, establishing casinos in Las Vegas and Cuba. Lucky Luciano pioneered the international heroin trade with his "French Connection" smuggling operation. As one historian put it: "Prohibition is over, but organized crime is not. It simply moved on to other activities."
Lessons from a Failed Experiment
Ultimately, Prohibition offers a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of attempting to legislate morality. By driving alcohol underground, Prohibition created an environment where organized crime could flourish on an unprecedented scale with virtually no competition. It normalized widespread criminality, corruption, and vice. While ostensibly intended to promote temperance and clean up society, it ended up doing just the opposite.
The rise of organized crime syndicates that began under Prohibition has had far-reaching consequences that still reverberate nearly a century later. It represented a watershed in the evolution of American criminality, the effects of which are still being felt. Powerful crime families that trace their roots to Prohibition bootleggers continue to operate today. While Prohibition is rightfully judged a failure, its legacy endures through the organized crime underworld it inadvertently helped create.
