Angelo Bruno's drug operations

[Ivan]

"Angelo Bruno was the biggest drug dealer in Philadelphia." ~Phil Leonetti

Can someone provide me with a somewhat detailed rundown of Angelo Bruno's involvement in the drug trade, or point me toward one?

much obliged

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Is it true that he allowed Sicilians with the Gambinos to deal on his turf as a favor to Carlo Gambino and/or Castellano, despite forbidding drugs in his own family? Isn't this one of the reasons he was killed?

[Wiseguy]

Is it true that he allowed Sicilians with the Gambinos to deal on his turf as a favor to Carlo Gambino and/or Castellano, despite forbidding drugs in his own family? Isn't this one of the reasons he was killed?

According to Freselone, that was a major beef Capinigro and others had against Bruno. Rather similar to the Castellano situation in the Gambino family.

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Is it true that he allowed Sicilians with the Gambinos to deal on his turf as a favor to Carlo Gambino and/or Castellano, despite forbidding drugs in his own family? Isn't this one of the reasons he was killed?

According to Freselone, that was a major beef Capinigro and others had against Bruno. Rather similar to the Castellano situation in the Gambino family.

Thank you. I'm not sure if this would be the sole purpose he was killed I think ultimately Chin wanted AC but this is probably why his family went along with the coup. His daughter had a pretty good segment on an old documentary from the early 80s I believe. I mean it's all the usual hyperbole you might expect from the next of kin of a slain mobster but her comments about how society was changing, everyone wanted to deal drugs and her dad wasn't with it somehow rang true.

[Ivan]

I mean it's all the usual hyperbole you might expect from the next of kin of a slain mobster but her comments about how society was changing, everyone wanted to deal drugs and her dad wasn't with it somehow rang true.

It's bullshit; Bruno made a shitload of money from drugs. He didn't like his men dealing because he didn't want the heat from it, but lots of guys close to him (Riccobene and Martorono for example) were moving meth IIRC. There's no evidence that Bruno had moral issues with drugs other than his own assertions, which were a PR thing.

Anyway, back to the original question, anyone got the details on Bruno's drug operations?

[Grouchy Sinatra]

There's really no evidence he didn't have moral issues with it, either. His drug revenues coming from Gambino dealers goes a long way to support the theory that he allowed them to do it as a favor to the Gambino family. He's in a position to where he can't say no and as far as him accepting the revenue from it, duh. Never said the guy was a priest just said I really don't think he was a fan of drugs, as many in his generation weren't.

[chin_gigante]

From how I understand it:

• Bruno was vocally opposed to drugs

• He was also very wealthy by the time he became boss, so he didn't need the money

• As a result, he didn't allow his family to enter the drug trafficking business in an organised way, but he wouldn't prevent his soldiers from individually making some money from narcotics

• Bruno allowed the Sicilians to set up shop in South Jersey and Pennsylvania and had the Gambino cousins to his house for Easter, where they likely showed up with an envelope

• Members of Bruno's family would buy heroin from the Sicilians and sell it on to non-mob distributors, who would sell in turn sell it to street dealers

• Bruno would lend money to the members of his family who purchased heroin from the Sicilians, so he was making cash from narcotics indirectly

• This led to resentment as the members of the family who were dealing knew they could have made 2 or 3 times as much if they could operate in an organised fashion using their own connections in Sicily

• Bruno was also making money with major meth dealer Raymond Martorano

[Ivan]

From how I understand it:

• Bruno was vocally opposed to drugs

• He was also very wealthy by the time he became boss, so he didn't need the money

• As a result, he didn't allow his family to enter the drug trafficking business in an organised way, but he wouldn't prevent his soldiers from individually making some money from narcotics

• Bruno allowed the Sicilians to set up shop in South Jersey and Pennsylvania and had the Gambino cousins to his house for Easter, where they likely showed up with an envelope

• Members of Bruno's family would buy heroin from the Sicilians and sell it on to non-mob distributors, who would sell in turn sell it to street dealers

• Bruno would lend money to the members of his family who purchased heroin from the Sicilians, so he was making cash from narcotics indirectly

• This led to resentment as the members of the family who were dealing knew they could have made 2 or 3 times as much if they could operate in an organised fashion using their own connections in Sicily

• Bruno was also making money with major meth dealer Raymond Martorano

Great breakdown Chin.

Who were the members of his family who would "buy heroin from the Sicilians and sell it on to non-mob distributors"?

Also what do you think of Leonetti's "Angelo Bruno was the biggest drug dealer in Philadelphia" quote?

[bert]

If Bruno wanted to he still could not stop the Sicilians or anyone else from doing what they wanted. He had control of his own family and certain people and segments of things. but if he told the Sicilians to stop they would have just gone ahead and done it, and if it came to a war they wouldn't care, they'd kill him if he didn't get them first.

[dack2001]

I don't think it's nearly as simple as that. Bruno had a seat on the commission so he had the power and the politics in his favor. However, given the size and powerful links of the Gambino faction, telling them no would not have made much sense. He would have lost support from his main commission ally and they would have moved in on the sneak anyway. Bruno should have handled it differently within his own family. I'm sure he was getting paid huge dollars for those distribution sites, everybody has to eat but it sounds like lots of his guys were either "broke" and watching this money pour into Bruno or were dealing drugs or financing themselves on the sneak, taking the risk, and resenting the huge easy dollars Bruno was making.

In his book, I think Leonetti refers to Raymond Martorano telling Nick Scarfo that Angelo Bruno was the biggest drug dealer in the city and that he and Tony Caponigro and Phil Testa were all involved with heroin.

[Ivan]

In his book, I think Leonetti refers to Raymond Martorano telling Nick Scarfo that Angelo Bruno was the biggest drug dealer in the city and that he and Tony Caponigro and Phil Testa were all involved with heroin.

found it

[bert]

Leonetti could be bullshitting. The part that gets me is saying he was the biggest. There were so many drugs deals in Philadelphia going on from so many groups to say he was the biggest is ridiculous. Plus if he moved little I could see it, but large amounts without any crews finding out is unrealistic.

[B.]

My take on leaders like Bruno and Castellano is that they used the drug rule (which did exist, followed or not) to prevent drug dealing from being a free-for-all among the membership, instead sanctioning specific individuals to handle larger drug-trafficking operations, many of them between members of different mafia families. Obviously they couldn't control the membership from dealing on their own, but it does seem like they attempted to control the status quo this way.

Bruno was suspected by the FBN of heroin trafficking before he became boss but I'm not sure what, if any, evidence there was for his involvement. He was tasked with supervising Harry Riccobene's operations when Riccobene went away in the 1950s for heroin trafficking but I'm not aware of any drug operations directly absorbed by Bruno, only gambling and loansharking. I believe Martorano was on record with Riccobene before Riccobene went away and Martorano was assigned to Bruno after that, so given Martorano's long and extensive history with drug dealing (and his alleged admission to Leonetti), that's a sign that Bruno was indirectly involved.

[Ivan]

My take on leaders like Bruno and Castellano is that they used the drug rule (which did exist, followed or not) to prevent drug dealing from being a free-for-all among the membership, instead sanctioning specific individuals to handle larger drug-trafficking operations, many of them between members of different mafia families. Obviously they couldn't control the membership from dealing on their own, but it does seem like they attempted to control the status quo this way.

Bruno was suspected by the FBN of heroin trafficking before he became boss but I'm not sure what, if any, evidence there was for his involvement. He was tasked with supervising Harry Riccobene's operations when Riccobene went away in the 1950s for heroin trafficking but I'm not aware of any drug operations directly absorbed by Bruno, only gambling and loansharking. I believe Martorano was on record with Riccobene before Riccobene went away and Martorano was assigned to Bruno after that, so given Martorano's long and extensive history with drug dealing (and his alleged admission to Leonetti), that's a sign that Bruno was indirectly involved.

Thanks B good info, from you and Chin both.

I needed it to own some people on another site, you see (they're a bunch of normies who are doing that "Bruno was against drugs and was tragically murdered because of the New Way of Doing Things by degenerates" thing - some people act like little kids being told there is no Santa Claus when you tell them Angelo Bruno was a drug dealer).

[Grouchy Sinatra]

Angelo Bruno was a drug dealer. Are we all agreed? (sheesh)