Bugs and Meyer Mob

Lansky and his friends organized a protective society in order to defend against the Italian and Irish gangs. Lansky and his younger brother Jacob, were joined by Meyer "Mike" Wassell, Samuel "Red" Levine, Irving "Tabbo" Sandler, Joseph "Doc" Stacher, and several others. Returning home from school one day, Lansky witnessed a street craps game break out into a fight when police whistles were heard. As the law drew near, Lansky forced Siegel to drop a gun that Siegel was trying to brandish. Siegel was angered with Lansky about losing the gun. Despite the confrontation, Siegel and Lansky became close friends. In the outfit, Lansky was considered the "brains", while Siegel was the "brawn". Siegel, the youngest of the gang, was known around his neighborhood as chaye; a Yiddish word meaning "untamed" or "animal". He had a reputation for having a short temper and people described him as being "crazier than a bedbug," which gave him the nickname "Bugsy" that he came to hate. ==Formation==

Lansky and Siegel soon formed a gang called the Bugs and Meyer mob. In the early 1920s, the Bugs and Meyer mob was in operation, working with Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Luciano's right-hand man Frank Costello. Lansky and Siegel recruited expert gunmen; they supplied bootleggers with stolen trucks and drivers. Lansky was experienced with automobiles and mechanics and soon the Bugs and Meyer mob was active in car theft. Organization The gang grew a violent reputation as they would extort money from Jewish moneylenders and storekeepers, as well as Irish and Italian shop owners and gamblers. Bugsy Siegel (along with Joe Adonis, Albert Anastasia, and Vito Genovese) was reputedly one of the hitmen that shot and killed Joe Masseria on April 15, 1931. Lansky also assisted Luciano with the murder of Salvatore Maranzano by recruiting Jewish hitmen that included Siegel, Red Levine, and Abraham "Bo" Weinberg. On September 10, 1931, Maranzano was shot and stabbed to death in his Manhattan office. When Lansky and Luciano formed the National Crime Syndicate in the early 1930s, Lansky, along with Siegel, pushed for a special outfit to handle "enforcement," or murders for the entire syndicate. This outfit was later named Murder, Inc. by the press. Several members of the Bugs and Meyer mob served as advisers or hitmen for Murder, Inc. when it was later headed by Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia. ==References==