Gambino Sicilian Faction General Discussion

[Villain]

I have some info that the Bonannos and the Outfit were connected even before Galante went to prison.

You see, during the early 1950's Outfit member Joe Mendino was possibly connected to the Bonannos and received his shipment through a pizzeria business which was located on Taylor Street and was owned by one of Mendino’s associates known as August Deveno. The problem was that Mendino began to attract too much attention by quickly building a $100,000 mansion in the southwest section of Lake Forest, and on the front side of the house, there was a huge $3,000 window which was painted with religious pictures. Also, two blocks down from Mendino’s estate, was the $75,000 brick house of 28 year old Frank DeMarie, who in turn was Mendino's partner in the dope racket. So one of their partners Joseph Iacullo was in close relation with Accardo and constantly fed the Outfit's boss with infos and envelops from that same racket. The problem was that during the mid 1950s many incidents occurred with the law and many dope runners ended up in jail or killed, including people close to the Outfit's top administration. So Accardo ordered everyone who was involved to get out of his neighborhood so he can receive a clean image and also managed to sent a message to Mendino in a form of a bomb which blew up in front of his house. So these are the so-called "coincidences" which occurred after all the incidents...

- In 1958, Bonanno member Carmine Galante was indicted on drug conspiracy charges and went into hiding and during that same year he visited Chicago. Story goes that Galante first visited Calumet City, an area under control of the Chicago Heights faction, which was heavily involved in the dope business, and again, according to the informant, after that Galante went to Cicero for another meeting and later went straight back to the east coast. The so-called informant was an alleged killer for the east coast Mob known as Harold Konigsberg who was close to many members from the New York crime families and according to his story, he was the one who allegedly drove Galante to Chicago. And so according to him, besides Galante and members from the Outfit, other individuals present on that Cicero meeting were also members from the Genovese crime family, long time allies of the Midwest Mob. Konigsberg also claimed that during the meeting, the Genovese faction strongly defended the Chicago faction on some "unknown subject" and so in the end, the sit down between Galante and whoever sat on the other side of the table from the Chicago boys, ended in favor of the Outfit. Even though he did not attend the meeting, obviously because he wasn’t Italian, Konigsberg also claimed that later Galante allegedly revealed additional details of the meeting but too bad since Konigsberg did not want to share that particular information with the federal agents

- Right after the meetings, many urgent travels occurred which included some high profile Outfit members and also indicates that there was obviously some kind of problem. For example, Accardo and one of his long-time buddies and also Police lieutenant, Anthony DeGrazio took a an alleged European trip, which quickly ended in Rome, Italy, where they met with Dominic Roberto, who in turn was former and deported boss for the Chicago Heights faction. Proof for their meeting were the names of the hotel rooms in which they stayed, and right across Accardo’s room, was the apartment of “Dominic Roberts” which was Roberto’s alias. Shortly after Accardo’s visit, two Chicago Heights members Joe Guzzino and Frank LaPorte again traveled to Italy, but this time they took a flight from New York, instead of Chicago.

- Galante got arrested and in 1960 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and after that, according to some government reports, Mendino was shelved or demoted to a lower level within the organization, almost like an associate. Story goes that by 1959 his health also suffered from the consequences and started having a lot of heart problems, which was the main reason for his demise two years later.

[Frank]

I have some info that the Bonannos and the Outfit were connected even before Galante went to prison.

You see, during the early 1950's Outfit member Joe Mendino was possibly connected to the Bonannos and received his shipment through a pizzeria business which was located on Taylor Street and was owned by one of Mendino’s associates known as August Deveno. The problem was that Mendino began to attract too much attention by quickly building a $100,000 mansion in the southwest section of Lake Forest, and on the front side of the house, there was a huge $3,000 window which was painted with religious pictures. Also, two blocks down from Mendino’s estate, was the $75,000 brick house of 28 year old Frank DeMarie, who in turn was Mendino's partner in the dope racket. So one of their partners Joseph Iacullo was in close relation with Accardo and constantly fed the Outfit's boss with infos and envelops from that same racket. The problem was that during the mid 1950s many incidents occurred with the law and many dope runners ended up in jail or killed, including people close to the Outfit's top administration. So Accardo ordered everyone who was involved to get out of his neighborhood so he can receive a clean image and also managed to sent a message to Mendino in a form of a bomb which blew up in front of his house. So these are the so-called "coincidences" which occurred after all the incidents...

- In 1958, Bonanno member Carmine Galante was indicted on drug conspiracy charges and went into hiding and during that same year he visited Chicago. Story goes that Galante first visited Calumet City, an area under control of the Chicago Heights faction, which was heavily involved in the dope business, and again, according to the informant, after that Galante went to Cicero for another meeting and later went straight back to the east coast. The so-called informant was an alleged killer for the east coast Mob known as Harold Konigsberg who was close to many members from the New York crime families and according to his story, he was the one who allegedly drove Galante to Chicago. And so according to him, besides Galante and members from the Outfit, other individuals present on that meeting were also members from the Genovese crime family, long time allies of the Midwest Mob. Konigsberg also claimed that during the meeting, the Genovese faction strongly defended the Chicago faction on some "unknown subject" and so in the end, the sit down between Galante and whoever sat on the other side of the table from the Chicago boys, ended in favor of the Outfit. Even though he did not attend the meeting, obviously because he wasn’t Italian, Konigsberg also claimed that later Galante allegedly revealed additional details of the meeting but too bad since Konigsberg did not want to share that particular information with the federal agents

- Right after the meetings, many urgent travels occurred which included some high profile Outfit members and also indicates that there was obviously some kind of problem. For example, Accardo and one of his long-time buddies and also Police lieutenant, Anthony DeGrazio took a an alleged European trip, which quickly ended in Rome, Italy, where they met with Dominic Roberto, who in turn was former and deported boss for the Chicago Heights faction. Proof for their meeting were the names of the hotel rooms in which they stayed, and right across Accardo’s room, was the apartment of “Dominic Roberts” which was Roberto’s alias. Shortly after Accardo’s visit, two Chicago Heights members Joe Guzzino and Frank LaPorte again traveled to Italy, but this time they took a flight from New York, instead of Chicago.

- Galante got arrested and in 1960 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison and after that, according to some government reports, Mendino was shelved or demoted to a lower level within the organization, almost like an associate. Story goes that by 1959 his health also suffered from the consequences and started having a lot of heart problems, which was the main reason for his demise two years later.

Thanks Villain, that's really interesting. It seems like the dope ring was run by deported, from the USA, mobsters. Is there any info that Roberto was a partner or in the same dope ring as Luciano and Coppola, or were they separate groups? I wonder if Roberto was the top man of the group? Roberto is an interesting former Chicago Outfit leader, I wonder if there is more information about him.

[Villain]

Thanks Villain, that's really interesting. It seems like the dope ring was run by deported, from the USA, mobsters. Is there any info that Roberto was a partner or in the same dope ring as Luciano and Coppola, or were they separate groups?

I wouldnt say that they ran the dope ring, but instead they were probably the main connection between their cohorts in the U.S. and the ones in Sicily and southern Italy or they simply maintained the connection. I believe that there was no "boss" of the operation but instead it was a chain which began in the Middle East and ended up in the states. There were people such as Antoine Araman and Muthar Berk in Lebanon who smuggled raw opium or morphine base from Aleppo, Syria, and transported the shipment to Turkey to Ahmet Soysal. From there the shipment went straight to the labs in Marseille, France, which were mostly owned by the Arnaci brothers and Marius Jacques Ansaldi and from there the heroin was sent to Naples, Genoa or Palermo, Italy. So finaly here's the point where the deported U.S. mobsters possibly came into the picture, since they were the ones who had the power to easily create the connection between the Italian or Sicilian sellers and the American buyers. I also believe that the Sicilians started to make their own heroin even during the French Connection or possibly during the 1950's and proof for that would be the Schapparelli Pharmaceutical Co. or the heroin laboratories in Trapani, Sicily, or the laboratories of Enzo Berti from Pisa, Italy. Some of these people were quite educated, like for example Berti who was an individual with a doctor’s degree and I also believe that this was possibly one of the first world wide and multi-ethnic organized crime rings. Also Giancana and Trafficante created something similar a decade later...

[Frank]

Thanks Villain, that's really interesting. It seems like the dope ring was run by deported, from the USA, mobsters. Is there any info that Roberto was a partner or in the same dope ring as Luciano and Coppola, or were they separate groups?

I wouldnt say that they ran the dope ring, but instead they were probably the main connection between their cohorts in the U.S. and the ones in Sicily and southern Italy or they simply maintained the connection. I believe that there was no "boss" of the operation but instead it was a chain which began in the Middle East and ended up in the states. There were people such as Antoine Araman and Muthar Berk in Lebanon who smuggled raw opium or morphine base from Aleppo, Syria, and transported the shipment to Turkey to Ahmet Soysal. From there the shipment went straight to the labs in Marseille, France, which were mostly owned by the Arnaci brothers and Marius Jacques Ansaldi and from there the heroin was sent to Naples, Genoa or Palermo, Italy. So finaly here's the point where the deported U.S. mobsters possibly came into the picture, since they were the ones who had the power to easily create the connection between the Italian or Sicilian sellers and the American buyers. I also believe that the Sicilians started to make their own heroin even during the French Connection or possibly during the 1950's and proof for that would be the Schapparelli Pharmaceutical Co. or the heroin laboratories in Trapani, Sicily, or the laboratories of Enzo Berti from Pisa, Italy. Some of these people were quite educated, like for example Berti who was an individual with a doctor’s degree and I also believe that this was possibly one of the first world wide and multi-ethnic organized crime rings. Also Giancana and Trafficante created something similar a decade later...

Ok they we're part of a network not really in charge of the whole thing. Did these three deported American LCN members become members of Families in Italy. Or where they independent, and still recognized as members of their US Families?

[Villain]

Ok they we're part of a network not really in charge of the whole thing. Did these three deported American LCN members become members of Families in Italy. Or where they independent, and still recognized as members of their US Families?

To tell you the truth I dont know the answer to that but I hardly doubt that Luciano or Roberto ever changed families but I cant say for sure regarding the rest of the members such as Coppola, Adonis etc. Maybe some of the fellas around here can answer that question?!

[jimmyb]

Did The Sicilian Pizza Connection actually BEGIN with Buscetta coming here in the mid 1960's? That was my understanding from the Book that I read.
Villain (Chicago poster) said something about some Heroin being brought into the Chicago Heights Crew earlier? Maybe that was on a much smaller scale and the real big Heroin business started after Buscetta came here? Can't beat the Sicilians as far as organization and secrecy. LOL

Do not overlook Detroit's LCN org when it comes to heroin trafficking. I've documented that during the 50s and 60s, Detroit's mafiosi were major traffickers, even supplying NY mafiosi (specifically John Ormento/Lucchese family). Three crews in particular were heavily involved in narcotics (the Partinico group---Coopola/Jimmy Q/Papa John Priziola; the Windsor group---Joe Catalanotte/Onofrio Minaudo/Nic Chicchini; and the Cinisi group---Badalamenti). Other crews supplied dope throughout the 70s and 80s---especially cocaine, but the heyday of narco trafficking for Detroit was the 50s and 60s.

I co-wrote a chapter w/Scott Burnstein about this in "Detroit True Crime Chronicles." The chapter is titled "The Detroit Drug Pipeline." For the piece I interviewed retired FBN/DEA agents. Congressional Hearings provide copious amounts of information on this as well. I have DEA and FBI files on the individuals I mentioned above too. Mary Ferrell a great source for info.

[Confederate]

Thanks jimmyb. When you cited FBN/DEA did you mean FBI/DEA? From where did the Detroit Mafia people get their Heroin? Was it from Italy or somewhere else?

[jimmyb]

Thanks jimmyb. When you cited FBN/DEA did you mean FBI/DEA? From where did the Detroit Mafia people get their Heroin? Was it from Italy or somewhere else?

No worries man. I did interview one of the Pizza Connection FBI guys, along w/some Detroit feds, but also talked to an agent who was in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics before DEA.

Most of the opium was coming from Iran and Turkey. Opium farmers would sell it to Lebanese merchants (Arabic speaking). The Lebanese merchants spoke French and would sell it to Corsican gangsters. The Corsicans owned labs and would process it into heroin. They would sell it to the Sicilians (who eventually set their own labs). Sicilians sold it to Italian American mafiosi and eventually the dope made it to Black drug dealers at the street level.

[Confederate]

And the ****### Drug dealers would kill each other trying to sell it to their own people. You forgot to finish the sentence. LOL
I believe the Sicilians had their OWN people on the receiving end of the Heroin many times in America. So, they were involved as you say in the manufacturing (when they set their own labs) AND distribution end on a high level. Each time the heroin changed hands it got cut some more. By the time it reached the street level it had been cut several times. When did the Italian gangsters from Naples and Calabria get involved in selling it to American Mafioso? How much of the American market share did the Sicilians lose after the Pizza Connection prosecutions?

[jimmyb]

And the ****### Drug dealers would kill each other trying to sell it to their own people. You forgot to finish the sentence. LOL
I believe the Sicilians had their OWN people on the receiving end of the Heroin many times in America. So, they were involved as you say in the manufacturing (when they set their own labs) AND distribution end on a high level. Each time the heroin changed hands it got cut some more. By the time it reached the street level it had been cut several times. When did the Italian gangsters from Naples and Calabria get involved in selling it to American Mafioso? How much of the American market share did the Sicilians lose after the Pizza Connection prosecutions?

Yes, right good pt. A lot of the imported heroin from Sicily went straight to Sicilians operating in the US (though so-called Zips).

I don't have a precise answer to your question about 'market share,' but this is interesting: "According to a 1984 DEA report: 'In the past 15 months it is estimated this flow of heroin from Italy to the eastern portion of the United States has been decreased by 25 percent [from 80 percent].'"

So I'm not a math person, lol, but I think they're saying 80% of the heroin coming into NY was from Italian suppliers, and by after the Pizza Connection convictions only 55% of the heroin coming in was from Italy. Does that sound right??

That quote is from the scholarly journal article: "Italian and American Cooperative Efforts to Reduce Heroin Trafficking: A Role Model for the United States and Drug-Supplying Foreign Nations" by Theresa M. Catino in Dickinson Journal of International Law (1990).

[jimmyb]

And the ****### Drug dealers would kill each other trying to sell it to their own people. You forgot to finish the sentence. LOL
I believe the Sicilians had their OWN people on the receiving end of the Heroin many times in America. So, they were involved as you say in the manufacturing (when they set their own labs) AND distribution end on a high level. Each time the heroin changed hands it got cut some more. By the time it reached the street level it had been cut several times. When did the Italian gangsters from Naples and Calabria get involved in selling it to American Mafioso? How much of the American market share did the Sicilians lose after the Pizza Connection prosecutions?

Yes, right good pt. A lot of the imported heroin from Sicily went straight to Sicilians operating in the US (though so-called Zips).

I don't have a precise answer to your question about 'market share,' but this is interesting: "According to a 1984 DEA report: 'In the past 15 months it is estimated this flow of heroin from Italy to the eastern portion of the United States has been decreased by 25 percent [from 80 percent].'"

So I'm not a math person, lol, but I think they're saying 80% of the heroin coming into NY was from Italian suppliers, and by after the Pizza Connection convictions only 55% of the heroin coming in was from Italy. Does that sound right??

That quote is from the scholarly journal article: "Italian and American Cooperative Efforts to Reduce Heroin Trafficking: A Role Model for the United States and Drug-Supplying Foreign Nations" by Theresa M. Catino in Dickinson Journal of International Law (1990).

Wait that doesn't make sense, the Pizza Connection convictions were a few yrs later. I'll take another look at this article and try to figure out what those stats mean.

[Confederate]

And the ****### Drug dealers would kill each other trying to sell it to their own people. You forgot to finish the sentence. LOL
I believe the Sicilians had their OWN people on the receiving end of the Heroin many times in America. So, they were involved as you say in the manufacturing (when they set their own labs) AND distribution end on a high level. Each time the heroin changed hands it got cut some more. By the time it reached the street level it had been cut several times. When did the Italian gangsters from Naples and Calabria get involved in selling it to American Mafioso? How much of the American market share did the Sicilians lose after the Pizza Connection prosecutions?

Yes, right good pt. A lot of the imported heroin from Sicily went straight to Sicilians operating in the US (though so-called Zips).

I don't have a precise answer to your question about 'market share,' but this is interesting: "According to a 1984 DEA report: 'In the past 15 months it is estimated this flow of heroin from Italy to the eastern portion of the United States has been decreased by 25 percent [from 80 percent].'"

So I'm not a math person, lol, but I think they're saying 80% of the heroin coming into NY was from Italian suppliers, and by after the Pizza Connection convictions only 55% of the heroin coming in was from Italy. Does that sound right??

That quote is from the scholarly journal article: "Italian and American Cooperative Efforts to Reduce Heroin Trafficking: A Role Model for the United States and Drug-Supplying Foreign Nations" by Theresa M. Catino in Dickinson Journal of International Law (1990).

That is EXACTLY what that 1984 report means. The Sicilians had 80% of the market share. 80% less 25% equals 60%. (A quarter of 80 is 20) 80-20 equals 60.

[CabriniGreen]

@Jimmyb

I think Iron Tower was before the Pizza Connection bust.......

Also, have you heard of Gaspare Mutolo? He got heroin from Thai sources, supplied the Cuntreras ring, and the Gambino ring. Is this what you mean?

[CabriniGreen]

Also this was the time Riina was killing everything in sicily, since about 2015 I've come on the boards with a theory that the Gambinos and Bonnanos basically want Thier transatlantic narcotic rings back. And the the Siciliano NEED the transatlantic rings back....

[CabriniGreen]

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was the precursor to the DEA. Why I mentioned Douglas Valentines book in another thread....

When it comes to the mob in the 50 and 60s, they were the ones who had all the info on the mob. Not the FBI. They were playing see no evil hear no evil.