Gaspar Milazzo quickly established himself as a powerful and influential mobster within the Detroit underworld and would be recognized as a capable underworld adviser and mediator of Mafia disputes. Detroit had a large Sicilian immigrant population and was one of the East Coast's bootlegging hubs. At the time of Milazzo's arrival the Jewish Purple Gang controlled much of the liquor trafficking in the area. Even so, Milazzo managed to quickly establish himself as an influential mobster within the Detroit area underworld and became recognized as a Mafia adviser and capable mediator of disputes as many of the areas mafiosi sought his council and leadership throughout the 1920s, while Milazzo maintained a high degree of involvement within the local Mafia and the Prohibition era rackets.