It´s amazing how many tough, stone cold killers that "small" Family of his has produced.
The tiny size of that Family and the fact that their founding Boss came out of almost nowhere and was made an equal to the other Bosses on the Commission back in the early 30's is what alerts me to the possibility that this man and his tiny family had to have some kind of high powered way of making money.
In 1959 federal authorities caught on to Profaci’s drug trafficking having seized crates of hollowed out oranges that Profaci imported from Italy. Inside the oranges authorities found baggies of heroin with a total weight of 110 pounds. Despite having tape a phone conversation with Profaci and another man in Italy, authorities did not have enough evidence to charge him with a crime.
That quote comes from the below link:
http://americanmafiahistory.com/giuseppe-joe-profaci/Now if in fact Profaci was a Heroin importer from the very beginning, it would explain many things. If one reads about a character named "Antonio Cottone" who basically was Profaci's representative back in Villabate, one learns that it was Cottone that Profaci was caught conversing with about the Heroin filled oranges.
I am pretty sure Profaci was a high powered drug trafficker. Only thing I am not sure about is when he began. Right now there isn't much to go on to make the case that the Mafia was into illicit drugs big back in the early 30's. To everyone, bootlegging alcohol was the major black market of that era. However if I get more info, I will share it.
