The United States Organized Crime Strike Force was created in the late 1960s for the purpose of finding and stopping illegal racketeering

Racket (crime)

A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...

. It was formed in a congressional effort

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 led by Robert Kennedy.

The Strike Forces were directed toward the identification and investigation of taxpayers who derive substantial income from organized criminal activities

Organized crime

Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...

. Coordination of enforcement efforts and close cooperation and liaison with other federal, state, and local enforcement agencies are necessary for effective Strike Force operations.

It was jointly responsible for investigating and eventually helping to bring down high level Mafiosos

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 such as Joseph Aiuppa

Joseph Aiuppa

Joseph John Aiuppa , also known as "Doves," "Mourning Doves," "O'Brien," or "Joey Doves," was a Chicago mobster who became a leader of the Chicago Outfit.-Early career:...

 of the Chicago Outfit

Chicago Outfit

The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...

, Anthony Salerno

Anthony Salerno

Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno was a New York mobster who served as front boss of the Genovese crime family to family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante from the 1970s until his conviction in 1986...

 of the Genovese Family of New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Paul Castellano

Paul Castellano

Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...

 of the Gambino Family. Also the Strike Force took down and cleaned up much of the Organized Crime in The Teamsters

Teamsters

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....

across the country.