New York ( CNN ) -- In one of the largest single-day operations against the Mafia in FBI history , federal agents working with local law enforcement fanned out across Italy , New York , New Jersey and Rhode Island to arrest 127 people allegedly involved in organized crime , officials said . Alleged members from the five prominent New York families -- the Gambino , Colombo , Bonanno , Genovese and Lucchese families -- were arrested Thursday , based on 16 indictments in four different jurisdictions , Attorney General Eric Holder said during a news conference in New York . `` Today 's arrests and charges mark an important step forward in disrupting La Cosa Nostra 's illegal activities , '' he said , referring to the criminal organization by its Italian name . Ninety-one members and their associates , including one in Italy , were charged with federal crimes that include conspiracy , arson , extortion , narcotics trafficking , illegal gambling , labor racketeering and murders that date back as far as 1981 , according to a U.S. Justice Department statement . An additional 36 suspects were charged for their roles in the alleged criminal activity , the statement said . About 125 people , including several high-ranking members and much of the Colombo family leadership , are currently in custody following a raid that Holder described as the largest single-day operation against the notorious crime network . Four of those charged were previously in custody , officials said . Members of the New England Patriarca family and New Jersey-based Decavalcante family are also accused of related federal crimes . `` Some allegations involve classic mob hits to eliminate perceived rivals , '' Holder told reporters . `` Others involve senseless murders . '' He described two murder victims who were allegedly killed in a public bar over a dispute concerning a spilled drink . Holder 's appearance in New York with leadership from local and federal law enforcement perhaps underscores the significance the Justice Department attributes to Thursday 's sweep . Television images showed several men handcuffed and hand-checked by federal agents -- an apparent part of the `` unprecedented '' 800-person task force involved in the raid . The move comes amid concerns about a possible resurgence of organized crime despite a scattered recent history of defections , beginning with acting crime boss of the Lucchese family , Alphonse D'Arco , who admitted to `` cooperating with the federal government '' starting in 1991 . Gambino family underboss Salvatore `` Sammy the Bull '' Gravano defected later that same year , providing testimony -- in exchange for a reduced sentence -- which led to the conviction of the infamous Gambino kingpin John Gotti . `` If you look at the mob in the '50s and '60s and '70s , there were virtually no informants , '' said New York Waterfront Commissioner Ronald Goldstock . `` The picture has changed dramatically today . The mob is practically unrecognizable . '' But Thursday 's sweep may now do away with `` the myth '' of the mafia and the widely held notion that `` La Cosa Nostra is a shell of its former self , '' said Janice Fedarcyk , assistant director in charge of the FBI 's New York Division . `` I think we made a serious dent today , '' Fedarcyk said , but she warned of a new generation of criminal leadership `` coming up behind them . '' The mob revival concept , however , is the subject of debate . `` Their leadership ranks have been battered by federal and local law enforcement over the years , '' said James B. Jacobs , a professor at the New York University School of Law . `` It 's very hard to see to how they could have ever reconstituted in the way they were before . '' Attorney General Holder said organized crime is not resurgent and no longer nationwide , but still subtracts millions of dollars from local businesses by way of a `` mob tax , '' or tribute exacted through corrupt local officials . Holder described the phenomenon as `` a major threat to the economic well-being of this country . '' On Thursday , New Jersey and New York prosecutors identified more than a dozen New Jersey residents with alleged mob ties who worked as officials for longshoremen 's unions , charging them with racketeering and other related offenses , according to a joint statement from district attorneys in both states . A man described as a `` soldier in the Genovese organized crime family '' allegedly collected money from port workers , extorting payments after the workers received their annual Christmas bonuses . Police say workers from the International Longshoremen 's Association , Local 1235 , were forced to pay corrupt officials between $ 500 and $ 5,000 each year if they hoped to rise above entry-level dock jobs , according to New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly . `` Organized crime means what it has always meant on the waterfront : Mobsters getting rich on the backs of dock workers , '' he said . Despite declines in mob activity in other industries , dockyards in the U.S. Northeast are places where organized crime remains a threat , according to Waterfront Commissioner Goldstock . And with law enforcement focused on preventing terrorism and providing port security , organized crime is often left without the `` day-to-day pressures '' it may have felt in years past , he said . Last April , 14 members of the Gambino crime family -- including Daniel Marino , who was then considered the family head -- pleaded guilty to charges that included murder , racketeering , extortion and prostitution of minors , court officials said . CNN 's Mary Snow , Deborah Feyerick , Terry Frieden and Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report .
NEW : Some 125 people are currently in custody , says Attorney General Holder . The Justice Department is also investigating the death of a New York City police officer who was shot by an NYPD sniper on September 11 last year. Four of those charged were previously in custody , officials said . 91 members and associates , including one in Italy , are charged with federal crimes . Another 36 suspects were charged for their roles in the alleged criminal activity .