Crime Fighters Emerge

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In 1927, the Prohibition Unit, failing in its fight against organized crime and corruption, was reorganized into a separate and distinct Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A strategy was implemented to train and professionalize the force of new agents around the country.  At its peak, the Bureau of Prohibition employed 4,300 people.  As criminal syndicates gained control over the illegal liquor industry throughout the country, the new mission of the Bureau emerged — crime fighting.  The Bureau targeted gangsters to suppress illicit trafficking.