The octogenarian leaders of the dwindling Colombo crime family were arrested Tuesday in a federal mob sweep, according to a law enforcement source.
The FBI busted at least a dozen people in the takedown, including nine members and associates of the Colombo crime family.
Andrew "Mush" Russo, the 86-year-old boss of the syndicate, and his underboss, Benjamin "The Claw" Castellazzo, were among those arrested in the pre-dawn raid, the source said.
Russo was arrested on Long Island, while Castellazzo, 81, was arrested in New Jersey.
They are expected to be charged for alleged labor racketeering offenses, alongside a soldier in the allied Bonanno crime family and several other mob associates. Further details about the case were not immediately available.
Russo, who has done several stints in federal prison, was previously charged with ordering the 1993 killing of Colombo underboss Joseph Scopo during a family civil war.
He most recently pled guilty to federal racketeering charges in 2012, but received a reduced sentence in order to spend time with his family.
Prosecutors at the time predicted that Russo had no intention of disassociating himself from the criminal enterprise. In one recording, he was overheard saying, "I can't walk away. I can't rest."
Castellazzo was previously sentenced to 63 months for extorting the Brooklyn-based La Quila construction company and The Square, a Staten Island pizzeria.
The underboss told a judge that he had been living in a New Jersey trailer park, and that his wife was subsisting on food stamps, in a failed bid to reduce his sentence.
"I have reflected on my life during the past two years," Castellazzo wrote at the time. "I am not proud of the life I have led."
