It has been said that St. Louis is one of the last cities in America that has a thriving Italian population. Depending on who you believe, it might also still be home to the Mafia who are allegedly alive and well in the city.

A very big (and hopefully obvious) disclaimer here. Just because an area or individual has an Italian background does not make them The Godfather. It's also important to emphasize that just because a website makes a statement that it does not necessarily mean it's based on fact. However, I found a very interesting Wiki site that claims to document the past and current St. Louis mafia crime family.

This is backed up by a video that claims to show that family dating back to the 1800's.

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I'm purposely leaving specific names out of this article as innocent people and families could be associated with something that they have nothing to do with. It's worth noting though that there is much talk about St. Louis still very much having a Mafia presence even if it has dwindled since the 1960's. A Gangster BB post mentions that there are perhaps a dozen still involved with those kind of activities in and around St. Louis.

In my research, it seems that many who's families were associated with Mafia activities have moved to legitimate restaurant and flower shop businesses. The most notorious Mafia-related news in St. Louis happened in 1980 when a car bomb set off on I-55 killed an alleged mob member and started an underground war as reported by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Horseshoe Jimmy" Michaels murder in that event has been ranked by The Gangster Report as the #1 mafia hit in St. Louis.

That's all in the past, right? If Wikipedia is to be believed, the answer is no. The claim is that any Mafia activity in St. Louis is related to directives from Chicago and Kansas City, but is not dealt with by federal authorities because their focus is on violence against the public. They refer to it as real, but "off the radar".

I will admit that I tend to be naïve when it comes to Italians in St. Louis. For me, it's always been the awesome neighborhoods on The Hill and the great food there.

Perhaps there still is an undercurrent of mob activity in St. Louis or maybe it's just an interesting topic for movies.  Capiche?

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