Even thenm once in a while the heads of the more powerful families would meet to work out differences (Meltzer, 1990, pp. 40-41). Still, striking at the mob could not be effected easily by the use of normal investigative methods alone.

Indeed, the failure of the FBI to use even those methods in a concerted manner is noted by Kessler (2002), who reports that Hoover usually claimed that the FBI had no jurisdiction in such cases, which Kessler denies, citing laws on interstate transportation of stolen goods. During the Kennedy Administration, Hoover was forced to admit that organized crime existed and also put more pressure on the mafia as a result. Still, as Kessler (2002) notes, "the bureau still adopted a haphazard, piecemeal approach, charging Mafia figures if they submitted a false loan application to the government, for example. Having been allowed to grow, the Mafia was now difficult to...
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