Posted By: Louiebynochi
Article Lucchese,Genovese 2B Annual Heroin Ring - 07/01/21 02:22 AM
HEROIN RAIDS SAID TO BREAK VAST CITY RING
By Peter Kerr
April 11, 1986
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
April 11, 1986, Section B, Page 1Buy Reprints
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This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
Leaders of a drug network that distributed almost all the heroin sold on the Lower East Side and one-third of the heroin in the New York metropolitan area were among 38 people arrested yesterday in early morning raids, authorities said.
The arrests, in New York City and on Long Island, culminated a two-and-a-half-year investigation that traced street sales of more than $2 billion worth of heroin annually to a handful of Mafia leaders, law-enforcement officials said.
Authorities described the investigation as an undercover counterpart to ''Operation Pressure Point,'' a large-scale police operation begun in 1984 to clear the Lower East Side of blatant drug trafficking on the streets and in tenements.
''This is the first case where we can see a pyramid rising out of the Lower East Side,'' Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward said. ''The street dealers are not independent contractors. They are part of a major network.''
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Enough Heroin for 90,000 Addicts
According to Robert M. Stutman, the head of the New York field division of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the nine organizations involved were selling enough of the drug to supply 90,000 to 100,000 addicts a year, or one-sixth of the heroin sold in the United States.
He said the operation, involving more than 300 city and state police officers and Federal agents, constituted the breakup of the largest drug distribution network since the arrest of Leroy Barnes, the Harlem-based drug dealer, in 1977.
''We believe we have disrupted an entire organization from bottom to top,'' Mr. Stutman said.
Among those at the top of the network, investigators said, were 78-year-old Joseph DiPalermo and his brother Charles, 61. Both have long records of involvement with drug trafficking and are reputed to be associated with the Luchese and Genovese crime families.
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Charles DiPalermo was arrested yesterday, but Joseph DiPalermo was still being sought.
At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Stutman, Mr. Ward and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said they believed that the arrests would be a major blow to heroin trade in the state.
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Continue reading the main story
However, law-enforcement officials acknowledged that despite this and similar investigations over the years, they expected New York to continue to be a major market for heroin and other drugs, since the demand was great and a new generation of dealers was always ready to enter the business. A Convicted Drug Dealer's Son
For example, one of those arrested yesterday and identified as a major figure in the heroin network was Gus Sperling, 22, the son of Herbert Sperling, a major heroin dealer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1973 for drug dealing.
Starting with street-level purchases on the Lower East Side, officials said, they were able to establish that dozens of seemingly separate sales organizations had common links and were selling more than 1,000 kilograms of heroin a year on the East Coast. An estimated 5,800 kilograms of heroin is consumed annually in the United States, about half of it in New York City.
Those arrested yesterday at 22 locations included ''mid-level'' dealers who commanded organizations that sold $35,000 to $100,000 worth of heroin a day, the authorities said. More than a kilogram of heroin was seized, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a large number of weapons.
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Over the years, investigators spent $300,000 to buy heroin and reach the higher-level suppliers, authorities said.
Investigators identified the leading wholesalers as the DiPalermos; John Sorrentino, of 299 Pearl Street, identified as Charles DiPalermo's son-in-law; Mr. Sperling, of 40 Monroe Street; Gaetano Recupero, 33, of 2089 Schenectady Avenue, Brooklyn, and Frank Sanchez, 38, of 535 Stacks Place, Baldwin, L.I.
By Peter Kerr
April 11, 1986
Credit...The New York Times Archives
See the article in its original context from
April 11, 1986, Section B, Page 1Buy Reprints
VIEW ON TIMESMACHINE
TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.
About the Archive
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
Leaders of a drug network that distributed almost all the heroin sold on the Lower East Side and one-third of the heroin in the New York metropolitan area were among 38 people arrested yesterday in early morning raids, authorities said.
The arrests, in New York City and on Long Island, culminated a two-and-a-half-year investigation that traced street sales of more than $2 billion worth of heroin annually to a handful of Mafia leaders, law-enforcement officials said.
Authorities described the investigation as an undercover counterpart to ''Operation Pressure Point,'' a large-scale police operation begun in 1984 to clear the Lower East Side of blatant drug trafficking on the streets and in tenements.
''This is the first case where we can see a pyramid rising out of the Lower East Side,'' Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward said. ''The street dealers are not independent contractors. They are part of a major network.''
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
Enough Heroin for 90,000 Addicts
According to Robert M. Stutman, the head of the New York field division of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the nine organizations involved were selling enough of the drug to supply 90,000 to 100,000 addicts a year, or one-sixth of the heroin sold in the United States.
He said the operation, involving more than 300 city and state police officers and Federal agents, constituted the breakup of the largest drug distribution network since the arrest of Leroy Barnes, the Harlem-based drug dealer, in 1977.
''We believe we have disrupted an entire organization from bottom to top,'' Mr. Stutman said.
Among those at the top of the network, investigators said, were 78-year-old Joseph DiPalermo and his brother Charles, 61. Both have long records of involvement with drug trafficking and are reputed to be associated with the Luchese and Genovese crime families.
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Charles DiPalermo was arrested yesterday, but Joseph DiPalermo was still being sought.
At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Stutman, Mr. Ward and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said they believed that the arrests would be a major blow to heroin trade in the state.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
However, law-enforcement officials acknowledged that despite this and similar investigations over the years, they expected New York to continue to be a major market for heroin and other drugs, since the demand was great and a new generation of dealers was always ready to enter the business. A Convicted Drug Dealer's Son
For example, one of those arrested yesterday and identified as a major figure in the heroin network was Gus Sperling, 22, the son of Herbert Sperling, a major heroin dealer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1973 for drug dealing.
Starting with street-level purchases on the Lower East Side, officials said, they were able to establish that dozens of seemingly separate sales organizations had common links and were selling more than 1,000 kilograms of heroin a year on the East Coast. An estimated 5,800 kilograms of heroin is consumed annually in the United States, about half of it in New York City.
Those arrested yesterday at 22 locations included ''mid-level'' dealers who commanded organizations that sold $35,000 to $100,000 worth of heroin a day, the authorities said. More than a kilogram of heroin was seized, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and a large number of weapons.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
Fisher Investments
What Do You Need From an Estate Plan? [Free Guide]
Sponsored by Fisher Investments
See more
Over the years, investigators spent $300,000 to buy heroin and reach the higher-level suppliers, authorities said.
Investigators identified the leading wholesalers as the DiPalermos; John Sorrentino, of 299 Pearl Street, identified as Charles DiPalermo's son-in-law; Mr. Sperling, of 40 Monroe Street; Gaetano Recupero, 33, of 2089 Schenectady Avenue, Brooklyn, and Frank Sanchez, 38, of 535 Stacks Place, Baldwin, L.I.