The Winter Hill Gang was a loose confederation of American organized crime figures based in the Boston area, primarily active from 1961 to 2000. Founded by James 'Buddy' McLean and Howard 'Howie' Winter, it was predominantly Irish-American but included members of other ethnicities. The gang engaged in racketeering, drug trafficking, gambling, and weapons smuggling, and was the second most powerful criminal organization in New England after the Patriarca crime family. It was taken over by James 'Whitey' Bulger in 1979 and eventually dissolved by 2000.
CRIMENET has extracted 63 linkages for this organization, including 33 cooperative ties across 8 organizations, 22 conflicts across 6 organizations, 8 other connections and footprints in 1 country.
In September 1984, the Valhalla, a fishing boat, left Boston harbor loaded with weapons. The vessel was seized by two Irish Naval Service ships upon arriving in Ireland...