Made members and their underlings are not allowed to "GET CAUGHT" dealing in narcotics. But when they send tribute in the form of cash up the chain of command, do you really think that any of the bosses question how the money was made? Send me my share and I'll turn my head. Greed, not morals, are what these people are made of.


Don Cardi [/b][/quote]Exactly! One of the durable myths of the Mob is that they "don't deal drugs." BS!!! They've been dealing drugs since Day One. And as DC said, the Don may "decree" a ban on drugs, but he never asks too many questions about where the money comes from that was kicked upstairs to him.
As for the Bonannos: Politics, not drugs, was the reason they were ousted from the Commission. As you probably know, Joe Bonanno conspired with his ally, Joe Magliocco, to whack Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino. The plot was revealed by Joe Columbo, a Magliocco capo. Magliocco was called in front of the Commission, fined and replaced as Don by Columbo. The Commission then summoned Bonanno, who refused. The Commission decreed that his second-in-command, Gaspar DiGregorio, would be the new Don. Joe then disappeared and a war started that never reached a satisfactory conclusion. With no real leader, the family fell into disarray.
Carmine Galante, serving a long prison sentence, decreed himself the Don, imported "zips" from Sicily and set up the "Pizza Connection" heroin pipeline. But disapproval of heroin wasn't the real reason the Commission approved a hit on him. Galante bragged that when he got out of prison, "I'll make Gambino s**t in the street." Goodbye, Lilo!