When were there large scale NY LCN Coke or Heroin busts?
Not since the late 80's from memory.
Pills, weed there are convictions but 100+ kilo busts are well over.
IE there is little evidence the NY 5 are involved in large scale wholesale distribution of grade A narcotics.
There may be indervidual cases of small time dealing or movement in weed etc, but little evidence of wholesale movement of hard drugs.
Correct me if Im wrong?
Just go back a 6 months and you've got Cali's guy Lupoi in a huge coke conspiracy with N;drangheta. Cali and Nicchi going back and fourth between Sicily and NY, out of freindship? I doubt it...
You can also look at one of the recent cases involving the Gambino family's Trucchio crew. Among the allegations was that the crew had tens of thousands of kilos of cocaine, marijuana, and ecstasy pills in Queens, from the late 1980's to 2010, which brought in tens of millions of dollars.
You can read the December 2008
New York/New Jersey HIDTA Drug Threat Overview, March 2009 DEA
Drug Threat Assessment" or the April 2009, drug market analysis by the National Drug Intelligence Center. The LCN is said to be involved in marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy distribution at the wholesale, middle, and retail levels. The LCN was said to facilitate drug smuggling through several U.S. POE's, had very close working relationships with Italian organized crime, were increasingly working with Mexican DTO's, worked with mid-level and retail-level distribution groups and street gangs such as the Latin Kings, OMG's such as the Hells Angels, and independent dealers who distributed drugs in bars and clubs.
That said, I for one don't deny that the LCN has been marginalized in the drug trade. They were never in a position to control cocaine or marijuana. And their dominance over the heroin trade has been over for 30 years. But they are still significant players in the drug trade in New York.
