During the Prohibition era, much of the Omaha's bootleg liquor was produced in Little Italy. In 1930, Omaha city boss Tom Dennison placed Frank Calamia, a Sicilian living in the neighborhood, in charge of liquor syndicate operations in Omaha's south side. Later, from 1946 to 1951, Calamia controlled the local outlet of a national race wire service, distributed racing results received from the mob-controlled Harmony News Service in Kansas City. According to one expert, Little Italy native Tony Biase was the "leading Mafioso in Omaha" through the 1970s.