- "After Thomas Wayne died, they all went after it like vultures. The Mayor, Falcone, Maroni, everyone got in on it. It was perfect for making bribes, laundering money. Huge charitable fund with no oversight, everybody got a piece, but Falcone wanted more. So we orchestrated a play to take down Maroni big. He'd rat out his Drops operation, made the careers of everybody that went after him, and install them all as his puppets. You think this goddamn election matters? Falcone's the mayor. He's been the mayor for the last twenty years."
- ―William Kenzie to Batman and Jim Gordon.[src]
The Arrest of Salvatore Maroni was a successful attempt to arrest the infamous drug lord Salvatore Maroni. However, it was a conspiracy orchestrated by Carmine Falcone and those under his payroll to ensure the latter's rise to power in Gotham's criminal underworld.[1]
History[]
Arrest[]
- "After everything we did to take down the Maronis? He busted the entire operation."
- ―Jim Gordon to Batman[src]
After the murder of the Wayne family in 2002, the Renewal fund launched by then-mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne fell into the hands of Gotham's corrupt officials and the mafia families of Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. As a result, despite its initial humanitarian purpose, the fund started to be secretly used for laundering money and making bribes. Sometime that year, seeking sole control over Renewal, Falcone orchestrated a conspiracy against his rival Maroni to elevate his own family and significantly reduce the power of the Maroni Crime Family. To this end, Falcone enlisted various political figures, such as Don Mitchell, Jr., Gil Colson, and Pete Savage, to organize a historic sting operation that would shut down Maroni's Drops business and advance the careers of those involved. After the arrest, Maroni was incarcerated in Blackgate Penitentiary, while Falcone took over his Drops operation for himself. As a ultimate personal insult to Maroni, Falcone took Maroni's ring and wore it as a trophy of his victory over his gang.
Aftermath[]
- "It's a drug lab. Drops. This is a buy."
"Looks like they got Maroni's operation up and running again."
"Or they never shut it down at all."
"What are you saying? The biggest drug bust in GCPD history was a fraud?" - ―Batman and Jim Gordon[src]
In 2022, a serial killer known as the Riddler began murdering the individuals involved in the Maroni's arrest. He began by assassinating Don Mitchell Jr., a four-term incumbent mayor of Gotham and a candidate in an ongoing campaign against Bella Reál, by sneaking into his manor and bludgeoning him with a carpet tucker. He then murdered Commissioner Pete Savage by attacking him late at night at the police gym and later killing him with a rat-infested trap placed on his head. Afterward, he kidnapped D.A. Gil Colson and strapped a bomb around his neck, sending him in his car to disrupt the mayor's funeral. Batman intervened, attempting to help Colson by solving the Riddler's three riddles, which would have exposed the informant (Falcone) in the Maroni case. However, Colson refused to answer the last riddle, fearing the consequences Falcone would impose on him and his family, ultimately leading to his death in the explosion.
Batman and Jim Gordon continued their search for the answer to the riddle about the informant's identity, leading them to mistakenly identify the Penguin as the answer. Ultimately, the truth emerged when Catwoman found a recording that her friend Annika Koslov had left before being strangled by Falcone. Gordon then sent the evidence to GC1. In an act of revenge, Catwoman pursued Falcone with the intent to kill him. Eventually, Batman intervened and arrested him. When Falcone was being escorted out of his club, the Riddler killed him by shooting at him with a sniper rifle from his apartment.
References[]
- ↑ Reeves, Matt & Craig, Peter (writers); Reeves, Matt & Clark, Dylan (producers); & Reeves, Matt (director) (March 4, 2022). The Batman.