Gangs have become a recent conduit for organized crime in New Jersey.
The arrest on Thursday of 46 people, including four in New Jersey, who were allegedly involved in a racketeering ring across the eastern United States, showed that old-style mob activities haven't gone away.
The ring, accused of loan sharking, gambling, trafficking cigarettes and guns, extortion, fraud and assault, was connected to the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese and Bonanno crime families, federal officials said.
However, new groups of organized criminals, often not connected to the mob, are on the rise, authorities say, and they tend to have a strong knowledge of technology.
"Generally, the mob still has an influence and a presence," said Robert Bianchi, the former Morris County prosecutor who now has a private law practice. "They still represent a major danger to the community."
But in today's crime landscape, "The computer is the new conduit by which all the groups are doing business" and the mob is not always involved, Bianchi said.
Gangs, drug dealers, terrorists and burglars are some of the newer organized crime groups that are on the rise, Bianchi added.
In a statement prepared for NJ Advance Media, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino commented, "The face of organized crime is changing, and one of the largest growth areas is high-tech fraud that exploits vulnerabilities in the financial services and retail industries. Organized crime syndicates are recognizing that there is big money in identity theft, credit card fraud, mortgage fraud, internet-based scams, organized retail theft and related money laundering.
"We have stayed one step ahead of these criminals by developing the expertise to handle complex cybercrime and financial fraud cases, and we have brought strong racketeering cases against newer groups as well as the mob, which has also ventured into this territory," Porrino added.
Bianchi pointed out that today's gangs are often "sophisticated" and are branching into such areas as credit card fraud and theft through electronic means, Bianchi said.
An apparent example of the rising sophistication of gangs came in Union County last year.
In Elizabeth, 12 people who authorities said were linked to a city gang, 111 N.H.C. (Neighborhood Crips) were arrested last year following the investigation of a man accused in the murder of a Plainfield man.
Those defendants were charged in March 2015 with racketeering and a series of other offenses in connection with a pattern of identity theft, tax fraud, drug sales and the illegal production of fake debit and gift cards in and around Union County, officials said.
In July, a Livingston man and his wife, owners of a Roxbury go-go bar, and their accomplices were charged with using the club to cash in stolen and fraudulently obtained credit and gift cards, netting $9 million in illicit proceeds over four years, according to the state Attorney General's Office.
Another major investigation by the AG determined that a Boonton Township man, his wife and their accomplices were using their chain of 10 medical imaging centers across New Jersey to enrich themselves by providing kickbacks to doctors and falsifying records, reaping millions in profits. The man and his wife both pleaded guilty in May 2015.
Here are photos of some of the players allegedly involved in today's organized criminal enterprises in New Jersey. Some are allegedly connected to longtime reputed mob families, and some are not.
Ben Horowitz may be reached at bhorowitz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @HorowitzBen. Find NJ.com on Facebook.