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, supported by Cleveland mobsters Moe Dalitz and , establishes bookmaking operations under E.R. Lowe & Co. with Harold Fischer and in Tucson, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico This becomes one of the earliest syndicate criminal activities in the Southwestern United States and is eventually known as the "Tucson Front". The Tucson Front would later include front businesses such as the hotel chain run by .
January 8 – , a New York stevedore and local waterfront hiring boss, is shot six times and severely wounded by three unidentified men while leaving his Greenwich Village apartment. Hintz survives the shooting and identifies his assailants as longshoreman John M. "Cockeye" Dunn, Andrew "Squint" Sheridan and . On January 29, Hintz would finally die from his wounds.
January 25 – Al Capone dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in his Miami, Florida estate as a result of advanced syphilis.
February 22 – U.S. mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano is arrested by Cuban authorities under pressure from the United States Government. Deported to Italy after World War II, Luciano had become a Cuban resident October 1946. While in Cuba, Luciano was reportedly in contact with high ranking U.S. organized crime figures including Vito Genovese, Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Tony Accardo, Carlos Marcello and Meyer Lansky. On March 20, Cuba would deport Luciano back to Italy.
March 27 - , a drug trafficker and associate of , is killed in Lodi, California.[1]
May 1 – At the labour parade in Portella della Ginestra, Sicily, 11 people are killed and over thirty are wounded. The attack would later be attributed to Salvatore Giuliano, the Sicilian bandit and separatist leader. Mafia leaders like Calogero Vizzini had initially supported Guiliano and his separatist movement. However, when it became clear that Sicily would never achieve independence, Vizzini changed sides and joined the Italian Christian Democrat (DC – Democrazia Cristiana) party. Bernardo Mattarella, one of the party’s leaders, had welcomed Vizzini in a 1945 article in the Catholic newspaper . Vizzini’s support for the DC would never be a secret. During the crucial 1948 elections that would decide Italy’s post-war future, Vizzini and Mafia boss Giuseppe Genco Russo would share a table with leading DC politicians attending an electoral lunch. In 1950, Vizzini would allegedly help Italian police capture and kill Giuliano.
May 5 – The "Black Diamond Meeting" is held in New Orleans to name a successor to "Silver Dollar" Sam Carolla, who would soon be deported from the United States. Attendees include Carolla underbossFrank Todaro; capos , , and Frank Lombardino; Carolla's son Anthony Carolla, and Carlos Marcello. During this meeting, Carolla passes his leadership role to Todaro. However, by 1950 underboss Carlos Marcello would control organized crime in New Orleans.
May 7/9 – , a Chicago mobster and San Francisco crime leader, is found strangled to death in the trunk of a car in San Francisco. , a syndicate gunman and known drug trafficker, is charged with his murder, but is later acquitted.
June 20 – Mobster Benjamin Siegel is killed by an unidentified gunman at the Beverly Hills, California home of girlfriend Virginia Hill. Siegal had built The Flamingo hotel and casino in Las Vegas using millions of dollars in Mafia money.
