The Nation: The Mafia Afloat

To escape Government snoopers hounding them, the Mafia have discovered a new hiding place: the high seas. Like their piratical forebears, they have found a refuge where bullets and bugs are not easily lodged. As one Mafioso told another (in a bugged telephone conversation): "We can talk on the water because it ain't possible to bug a boat."

Not very easily anyway. So reveling in their new-found security, brine-bitten capos can be seen piloting sleek craft off Long Island, putting proudly into port in Brooklyn and The Bronx. Though they favor yachts, one captains a converted Coast Guard cutter, while another...

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