I was chatting a Boston-born & bred classmate today, and he was telling me about the mafia's connection to wine and alcohol-distribution in the Eastern US post-prohibition ("you don't get that contract without spilling some blood").
Upon further review, it looks like the mafia has been spilling some wine as well, with some stories coming to light - such as the 400K bottles of wine at Conte Vistarino dumped in a nefarious act (more here) or 80K liters dumped at a vineyard in 2012.
60 Minutes reported that work like this is related to the "Agromafia" (touching upon wine, olive oil, cheese) which is a $16B a year business focused on wheeling-and-dealing lower-quality-than-advertised products. And the Financial Times reports this is growing a 10% per year; now accounting for 15% of all Italian mafia activity.
The entire 60 minute segment can be viewed here.
source:
https://vinepair.com/booze-news/italian-wine-drained/
https://www.ft.com/content/73de228c-e098-11e8-8e70-5e22a430c1ad
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