Were there any criminal organizations in ancient Rome that were as powerful as modern day cartels?

by wataf
MyopiaPod

It also depends on what you are asking. Rome was founded on a handful of families and those families control most of the power throughout Rome, controlling large amounts of the economy and government. To that extent, they worked kind of like a mafia, however this is a specious comparison because what they did was perfectly within the law. Familial crime organizations like the Cosa Nostra would have existed, but without the criminal part.