Successful drug rings after Pizza Connection ?

[furiofromnaples]

In the 1980s after the pizza connection case the american mafia was hit hard by LE and was marginalized in the drug trade by the colombians and due the fact that more mobsters prefer be less money with bookie and shylock that more money and get long sentences but apart this,there was big drug rings after the 1985 ?

[Wiseguy]

In the 1980s after the pizza connection case the american mafia was hit hard by LE and was marginalized in the drug trade by the colombians and due the fact that more mobsters prefer be less money with bookie and shylock that more money and get long sentences but apart this,there was big drug rings after the 1985 ?

One would be the drug ring broken up by Operation Iron Tower in 1988. Like the Pizza Connection, it also involved the Sicilian and American Mafias.

It also comes down to what you mean by "big."

[furiofromnaples]

In the 1980s after the pizza connection case the american mafia was hit hard by LE and was marginalized in the drug trade by the colombians and due the fact that more mobsters prefer be less money with bookie and shylock that more money and get long sentences but apart this,there was big drug rings after the 1985 ?

It also comes down to what you mean by "big."

I mean with "big" a drug ring that was more than a wiseguy caught selling few pounds to an undercover agent,more likely the Gigliotti drug ring that made 12 milions a year.

[BillyBrizzi]

Personally I think there have been quite a lot Transatlantic drug rings from Italian origin that never (or not yet) have been busted..
Some maybe going on from the 90's, I think they are doing it on a smaller scale than during the Pizza Connection to avoid too much LE scrutiny. Can't imagine those Inzerillos for example, doing nothing anymore..

[BillyBrizzi]

Just looked it up and the son of Salvatore Inzerillo, Giovanni, got busted in 2008 as part of 'Operation Old Bridge'.

[JeremyTheJew]

Operation Old Bridge was mostly Gambino if I remember codrectly. Frank Cali and i even Corozzo was in that i believe?

WG- what is Op Iron Tower? Im cery surprised i havent heard of that.

[TommyNoto]

The was a major oxy ring busted in Nutley / Bellville area that was doing $1M a month or so in 2010

It was never formally tied to OC but several higher up Luchesse associates were involved

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/0 ... elati.html

[cavita]

Operation Old Bridge was mostly Gambino if I remember codrectly. Frank Cali and i even Corozzo was in that i believe?

WG- what is Op Iron Tower? Im cery surprised i havent heard of that.

In 1983 in a Buffalo, New York drug bust one of those arrested became an informant and stated that organized crime families in Sicily were trying to set up an import-export company as a front for drug operations.
This became the “Iron Tower” case and eventually required the cooperation of six FBI field offices, three Italian police agencies, other U.S. government agencies and overseas support of the DEA. The FBI stated this entire investigation stemmed from the earlier “Pizza Connection” international drug ring and in the end charged more than 200 people in Rockford, Buffalo, Baltimore, Miami, Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Palermo, Bologna and Florence. 75 people charged in the U.S. and 133 in Italy when everything came down in 1988.
The FBI tied this drug ring to the Gambino crime family in New York and the Spatola and Inzerillo crime families in Sicily.

[cavita]

Also there was Operation Green Ice in 1992 which was a narcotics/money laundering deal between Colombian cartels and the Corleonesi

[TommyNoto]

Sally KO Larca also ran a high end marajuana ring that probably sold 10,000+ lbs of marjauana a year and that's possibly conservative. The below article references 40K but I think he was caught with 4K lbs in a warehouse. High grade indoors is going for about $2k a lb so that's $8M ( wholesale value ) they caught on him and 10K is a $20m+ operation , and likely larger then the Gambino associated Parisi bakery pot bust. Word has always been that the west side are major high end marajuana traffickers ( possibly largest ) in the north east and the Sally KO bust provides some evidence of such, certainly tens of millions annual annual operation and that's probably conservative given wiretaps said he was bringing it over in 500 lb shipment so that 4K was probably a 2-4 month supply. They were probably grossing $500-$1k a lb so they were netting a tremendous amount of $ and given the business profile it makes sense the west side would corner this market .

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nydailyn ... -1.1570797

[NYNighthawk]

Blue Thunder - Vinny Gorgeous Basciano was acquitted in that case

[SonnyBlackstein]

Be interested if Sally KO gets shelved when he gets out.

How the west side responds to a serious drug bust would indicate the families current stance/policy on narcotics.

[CabriniGreen]

Was Iron Tower the one headed up by Francesco Gambino? Bust in Queens with the Spatolas? I gotta find a link....

[Wiseguy]

Be interested if Sally KO gets shelved when he gets out.

How the west side responds to a serious drug bust would indicate the families current stance/policy on narcotics.

I don't think he has much to worry about. There have been other Genovese cases involving drug trafficking charges in recent years. Usually by associates but still under the auspices of the family. The West Side's lack of involvement in narcotics has been more of a relative thing compared to the other families. Not an absolute non-involvement, even back when Chin was at the helm. Having the biggest stake in the traditional rackets like gambling, loansharking, and labor racketeering, the Genovese haven't had to rely on drugs as much as the others. But they do seem to have been narrowing the gap lately.

[CabriniGreen]

Was Iron Tower headed up by Francesco Gambino? And succeeded by Carlo Filberto and Rosario Naimo?