Roy DeMeo was initially an associate of the Flatlands–Canarsie faction of the Lucchese crime family, which controlled tow truck companies, junkyards, and car theft operations in that section of Brooklyn. Anthony Gaggi, a soldier in the Gambino crime family, noticed DeMeo in 1966 and told him that he could make even more money with his successful business if he came to work directly for the Gambinos. Through the late 1960s, DeMeo's organized crime prospects increased on two fronts. He continued in the loansharking business with Gaggi, and began developing a crew of young men involved in car theft. It was this collective of criminals that would become known both in the underworld and in law enforcement circles as the DeMeo crew.