than any of the others in this collection. They represent a merging of academic interest with a commitment to environmental activism which occu"ed after several years of research conducted under the wing of the New York State Senate Select Committee on Crime created in the 1960s to investigate organized crime. I had the rare opportunity to work with this committee under the direction of counsel leremiah McKenna at the time attention was focused on organized criminals moved into the hazardous waste disposal industry. Much of my data came [rom committee investigations, hearings and reports. In addition, contacts outside of New York were eased by this affiliation. My long association with the committee inexorably led to an integration of research findings with an involvement in the formation of public policy. Part W presents another usually hidden dimension of organized crime; its mesh with transnational political movements, intelligence services, and political murder. Two essays dealing with assassinations a decade apart form this section. One was the murder of Carlo Tresca in 1943, the other of Jesus de Galindez in 1956. The former reveals the inte"elationships between Italian­ American organized criminals and the Fascist party, the latter the netherworld of professional criminals, private detectives, intelligence operatives, working together in the interests of dictator Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic.