The Most Dangerous Mob and Cartel Members in History

Vito Genovese was a powerful Italian-American mobster who led what became the Genovese crime family in New York. Known for his ambition and cruelty, he expanded his influence in drug trafficking, gambling, and extortion throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

Genovese’s hunger for control sparked bloody power struggles within the Mafia. He tried to unify organized crime under his rule but ended up imprisoned for narcotics trafficking in 1959. Despite his downfall, his name still defines one of the most powerful Mafia families in American history.