The rise of power that the Mafia acquired during prohibition would continue long after alcohol was made legal again. Criminal empires which had expanded on bootleg money would find other avenues to continue making large sums of money. When alcohol ceased to be prohibited in 1960s the Mafia diversified its money-making criminal activities to include illegal gambling operations, loan sharking, extortion, protection rackets, drug trafficking, fencing, and labor racketeering through many labor unions in the United States, most notably the Teamsters and International Longshoremen's Association This allowed crime families to make inroads into very profitable legitimate businesses such as construction, demolition, waste management, trucking, and in the waterfront and garment industry In addition they could raid the unions' health and pension funds, extort businesses with threats of a workers' strike and participate in bid rigging. In New York City most construction projects could not be performed without the Five Families approval. In the port and loading dock industries, the Mafia bribed union members to tip them off to valuable items being brought in. Mobsters would then steal these products and fence the stolen merchandise.
