Bootlegging
Little is known of DeMayo's early involvement in organized crime. By 1927, DeMayo was running the Kansas City criminal organization. The Kansas City gang, like other criminal organizations around the country, gained immense wealth and power during Prohibition by bootlegging alcohol. Unlike New York and Chicago, which were wracked by bloody gang wars during this period, the criminal gangs in Kansas had managed to cooperate and avoid bloodshed. Most of the murders that occurred during this era were committed by the mob to protect their bootlegging operations in the city and surrounding area. The largest alcohol stills were located in the heavily wooded and inaccessible areas on the Missouri River east of the city limits. Stills were also stationed in well-disguised underground facilities in the Little Italy section on the North Side of Kansas City. One large still was even uncovered on the second floor of a cafe located across the street from the County Courthouse.
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