When someone was said to be “sleep with the fish”no one expected to see him again. But not even the mafia escapes the impact of climate change.

Consequence of global warming, the largest reservoir in the United States it dries little by littlebeginning to spit out the darkest secrets of Las Vegas, the so-called capital of sin.

A few miles from the majestic and vibrant casinos of the Las Vegas Strip, the waters of Lake Mead back off exposing the residues of hectic weekends with boats and visitors.

But on the shore of this basin other remains have begun to emerge.

The skeleton of a man hit in the head and that was thrown into the tank inside a barrel four decades ago it appeared a few weeks ago in the place drawing the attention of a specific group of people.

“The mafia put people in barrels, threw them in the basin or in the field,” he says. Geoff Schumacher, Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

“Secondly, this person was shot in the headsomething typical of the mafia. And then we know that this was in the ’70s or early’ 80s, when the mafia was prominent in Las Vegas. “

an oasis of doom

An unlikely oasis of hotels, casinos and pampering flourished in the Nevada desert in the 20th century.

Las Vegas was founded in 1905, but its population only grew when construction on the nearby Hoover Dam began.

The arrival of construction workers created an entertainment market that was filled prostitutes, entertainers and gambling.

And where there is leather, casinos and alcohol, organized crime It doesn’t take long to get there.

“Mafia played an important role in the development of Las Vegas between the 1940s and 1980s, “Schumacher explains.

“There was a lot of behind-the-scenes activity with the mafia controlling the running of the casinos, but also building and expanding them, using union money in many cases.”

After World War II, the city capitalized on the boom that fueled the American dream and became the gaming capital of the world.

And mobsters in distant cities like Chicago, Cleveland or New York they wanted their share of every $ 100 that a tourist threw at roulette while drinking free alcohol.

The hijacking of money, which undoubtedly cost the city millions of dollars in lost taxes, was a double-edged sword.

“They also created this kind of mystical image about las vegas. People wanted to come to think ‘maybe when I sit in a bar, there will be a mobster by my side’Schumacher said.

cold-blooded killers

But it wasn’t all glamorous.

“Actually all these guys were cold-blooded killersThey were thieves. If you cross paths with the mafia in some way, there would certainly be consequences. “

Las Vegas police are still investigating the body found in a barrel in Lake Mead, then no details were revealed.

But Schumacher guessed it some hypotheses.

One option, according to him, is for it to be Jay Vandermark, who worked at the Stardust Hotel, which was controlled by Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal Representing the Chicago mafia.

Rosenthal, who was brought to the big screen by Robert De Niro in the movie “Casino”, he was diverting money to his bosses, until the program attracted the attention of local authorities.

Vandermark has disappeared soon after.

Another candidate, Schumacher speculates, is Harry Pupaanother man linked to the Chicago mafia and who was in charge of a boat that the Stardust hotel kept in the basin formed after the construction of the Hoover Dam.

“One of the added benefits for high rollers visiting Las Vegas was being taken out onto the reservoir in a boat.

“Before he disappeared, (Pappas) told his wife that he was going to have lunch with someone interested in buying his boat. We never saw Harry Pappas again“.

Lake Mead has lost more than half its volume and shows no signs of recovery as human action continues to alter weather patterns.

Schumacher thinks it’s possible new secrets appear on its ever more distant shore.

“I don’t know if we’ll find another body in a barrel, but I think it’s fine. there may be another victim murder there.

The author is an AFP journalist

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