Operation Wasteland was an

undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...

investigation into

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

control of the

waste disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

industry in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of over one hundred participants in

price-fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

and

bid rigging Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in procurement auctions resulting in non-competitive bids and can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or between officials and firms. This form of collusion is illegal ...

of waste hauling contracts in the city. The story is detailed in the book, ''Takedown, the Fall of the Last Mafia Empire'', by Detective Rick Cowan and co-author

Douglas Century Douglas Century (born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian author and journalist. He was educated at Princeton University. Journalism As a journalist, Century has written for numerous publications, including ''The New York Times'', ''Bill ...

, and in ''Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage'' by Heather Rogers.

References

{{Reflist American Mafia events Environment of New York City Law enforcement in New York City Waste collection Waste in the United States