The Mystery of Chicago's "Zips": Potential links to Italian OC?

[Moscone65]

It seems like a third of the outfit has blood ties to Bari/Puglia. Chicago is the main spot for Barese immigrants historically.

1/3 might be an overstatement for the entire Outfit, but I think it's clear that Chicago must've had a higher proportion of Pugliese than any other family. I haven't actually tried doing the numbers, but the great majority of Pugliese in the Outfit were from Grand Ave and EP with very few that I know of from Taylor, the Heights, Chinatown, Cicero, MP.

Your right. Taylor had a lot of sicilians, Chinatown is sicilian and calabrese I think? Cicero had quite a few napuletan guys

Another overlooked element are the Lucani, mainly from Potenza. I'd estimate that they've easily outnumbered the Pugliese in the Outfit and provided admin members such as Alderisio and Cerone.

That’s true. The Lucani from Potenza are very similar to a lot of Barese. Potenza is basically puglia, they are very close to altamura in puglia (which makes the best bread in the world.) The dialect is basically the same too.

[funkster]

Great stuff never really read about zips in Chicago . Also I’ve heard people refer to a Roman PD report from a few years ago about Zips coming to America and supposedly Chicago was at the top anyone know anything about it.

I've heard the same but have never been able to substantiate this claim. I'd be cautious in reading too much into it as I believe that the person responsible for floating this claim is BokaBreeze on Reddit, who has made a number of overstated and unsupported claims about the Chicago Outfit. Unless and until this info is confirmed I'm withholding judgment.

FWIW, in a recent unrelated google search I saw someone say the same in a GBB thread from a few years ago. Not sure how accurate poster is as I haven't posted there in many years and didnt recognize the handle.

[PolackTony]

Great stuff never really read about zips in Chicago . Also I’ve heard people refer to a Roman PD report from a few years ago about Zips coming to America and supposedly Chicago was at the top anyone know anything about it.

I've heard the same but have never been able to substantiate this claim. I'd be cautious in reading too much into it as I believe that the person responsible for floating this claim is BokaBreeze on Reddit, who has made a number of overstated and unsupported claims about the Chicago Outfit. Unless and until this info is confirmed I'm withholding judgment.

FWIW, in a recent unrelated google search I saw someone say the same in a GBB thread from a few years ago. Not sure how accurate poster is as I haven't posted there in many years and didnt recognize the handle.

Thanks. I thought I'd seen someone else besides Boka mention it, but wasn't positive. Of course, for all we know it's the same guy. Or one just parroting the other. I've spent some time trying to confirm this and haven't been able to find anything. Of two guys actually did independently came across it, one would hope it'd be easier to find. Who knows.

At least we can say that there is some evidence that Chicago has had some possibly significant links to Italian mafia groups and that these groups seem to have had members or affiliates operating in Chicago for decades. While the police reports that I've cited are vague, they do indicate that LE was well aware of these Italians and it certainly doesn't seem like a couple of "one off" events.

[cavita]

@PolackTony

You know bud I'm still researching this on my end for Rockford. Damned if I don't have FBI files from the 1980s and 1990s detailing the Rockford LCN's involvement in a Sicilian narcotics conspiracy. The parts where Chicago is mentioned for narcotics, and gambling for that matter, are largely redacted unfortunately. I'd love to know who the Chicago contacts were. It was an open secret in the early 80s in Rockford that they were involved in the Pizza Connection and there were certain restaurants that the local police knew were off limits as to busting any drug dealing. There were payoffs at the time and I'm still trying to locate good FBI files on all this. It's an interesting theory that they probably dealt with the Italian/Sicilian immigrants, legal or not, in the Chicago suburbs.

[gaspipe]

Thanks for the write up! Good stuff.

[OcSleeper]

I've heard the same but have never been able to substantiate this claim. I'd be cautious in reading too much into it as I believe that the person responsible for floating this claim is BokaBreeze on Reddit, who has made a number of overstated and unsupported claims about the Chicago Outfit. Unless and until this info is confirmed I'm withholding judgment.

That's for sure. Boka has his tongue so far up Chicago's ass you can't believe anything he says about them. And if you call him out him and his cronies doenvote you until you look like the guy spewing false facts

[PolackTony]

@PolackTony

You know bud I'm still researching this on my end for Rockford. Damned if I don't have FBI files from the 1980s and 1990s detailing the Rockford LCN's involvement in a Sicilian narcotics conspiracy. The parts where Chicago is mentioned for narcotics, and gambling for that matter, are largely redacted unfortunately. I'd love to know who the Chicago contacts were. It was an open secret in the early 80s in Rockford that they were involved in the Pizza Connection and there were certain restaurants that the local police knew were off limits as to busting any drug dealing. There were payoffs at the time and I'm still trying to locate good FBI files on all this. It's an interesting theory that they probably dealt with the Italian/Sicilian immigrants, legal or not, in the Chicago suburbs.

Always looking for if/when you're able to get some new info on this, as of course the Rockford angle is super important. If D'Amico actually did have guys working with Rockford it would be a big deal. My gut instinct is that D'Amico may have been a major bakroller of some of these Outfit-connected drug operations, as his name seems to pop up around several of the people connected to these things. It's my current belief that he may very well be one of the names redacted in your files. Hopefully someday some of these redactions will be removed now that so many of the players from that era are dead.

[Villain]

Well i dont remember the exact year but the feds once raided an illegal gambling establishment in Elk Grove Village and they also found 10 kilograms of cocaine and according to one source, the operation was allegedly overseen by D’Amico.

[Hired_Goonz]

Great write up! Here's another little typo correction for you though: the crooked ass former Canadian PM caught up in the Airbus scandal was Brian Mulroney. He was a sleazy motherfucker of course, but at the very least he didn't have any made Mafia members in his cabinet, unlike his successors! Lol

[PolackTony]

Great write up! Here's another little typo correction for you though: the crooked ass former Canadian PM caught up in the Airbus scandal was Brian Mulroney. He was a sleazy motherfucker of course, but at the very least he didn't have any made Mafia members in his cabinet, unlike his successors! Lol

Thanks! Ed also brought that to my attention, I was going to post the correction.

[PolackTony]

Well i dont remember the exact year but the feds once raided an illegal gambling establishment in Elk Grove Village and they also found 10 kilograms of cocaine and according to one source, the operation was allegedly overseen by D’Amico.

Well there you go. A lot of dots pointing towards D'Amico.

Earlier you asked if EP may have also been supplying the Grand Ave guys. If it's true that D'Amico was connected to Henry Centracchio's operation then that seems very possible.

[Villain]

Well i dont remember the exact year but the feds once raided an illegal gambling establishment in Elk Grove Village and they also found 10 kilograms of cocaine and according to one source, the operation was allegedly overseen by D’Amico.

Well there you go. A lot of dots pointing towards D'Amico.

Earlier you asked if EP may have also been supplying the Grand Ave guys. If it's true that D'Amico was connected to Henry Centracchio's operation then that seems very possible.

I dont remember it correctly but i think both cases at the time were about cocaine so maybe we are right. From the 80s and early 90s, we have Centracchio, D'Amico and Joe DiFronzo as prominent guys possibly financing narcotics and who else from the EP or Grand crews?

Also, do we know/remember on who gave the info regarding DiFronzo and some of the guys being allegedly happy when Accardo died so they can get involved in narcotics? Or was it that they couldnt wait for Accardo to die and to get involved? Something to that extent....

[ChicagoOutfit]

Great write up! Here's another little typo correction for you though: the crooked ass former Canadian PM caught up in the Airbus scandal was Brian Mulroney. He was a sleazy motherfucker of course, but at the very least he didn't have any made Mafia members in his cabinet, unlike his successors! Lol

More about the made members in the Canadian PM’s cabinet please!

[Hired_Goonz]

Great write up! Here's another little typo correction for you though: the crooked ass former Canadian PM caught up in the Airbus scandal was Brian Mulroney. He was a sleazy motherfucker of course, but at the very least he didn't have any made Mafia members in his cabinet, unlike his successors! Lol

More about the made members in the Canadian PM’s cabinet please!

Well I don't want to derail this thread but briefly Alfonso Gagliano was a high-ranking Canadian politician who held cabinet positions in the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin in the 90s and early 2000s. It later came out that he was a made member of the Bonanno family, part of their Montreal crew. He was born in the village of Siculiana and had been linked to various Montreal mafia figures over the years. While nobody has pointed to any criminal activity he committed on behalf of the Bonnanos, he was the point man for one of the biggest scams in Canadian history - the Sponsorship Scandal of the late 90s - for his other crime family, the Liberal party lol. Almost all Canadian PMs have been caught up in scandals.

[PolackTony]

A major piece of the puzzle here I think is this mysterious "Operation Colossus" from 1988. If the CPD busted 21 guys, it would be very useful to actually identify who they were, where the Italian nationals involved were from, and what local Outfit guys they were working with. I'm wondering if it would make sense to try to put in a FOIA request with the CPD to see if some info could be released on this?