@ Sinatra
80s-90s is Gottis heyday, would they have dealt with him? Do they deal with the Gottis today? Also, there are reports of Gotti getting dope from Bardellino in Naples, possibly, never been confirmed I believe. Like 85-91 everything to Sicily was probably in disarray.
The thing is, why were Sicilian bosses meeting with Gambinos in the early 2000s? If they had been disconnected since the early 80s, 90s ?And I don't mean dinosaurs Like Casamento, I mean YOUNG guys like Gianni Nicchi, he was like 26 or something at the time. He couldn't have been around for the French connection years, he was proboably a child during the Riina years.
I'm not sure if I believe there was no contact during these times. Between the indictments of the Pizza case, and Riinas killing spree, and Indictments of Sindonas banking empire, a lot of their Sicilian operation was dismantled. On BOTH sides of the Atlantic.
But that doesn't mean they totally gave up on it, and just looking at recent indictments, I don't know how anyone can say they did.
On the Bonnano thing, I think, amongst American Mafiosi, only Sonny Reds group had the okay to move heroin from the Sicilians, and only cause they were LaMarese, and they were distributors, not importers. On the Italian side, in the 60s, there was the big car bomb that lead to the mafia having to go into hiding. On the American side, there was the Banana War, so the Bonnanos were just as in disarray in the 60s as the Gambinos probably were in the mid 80s-90s. But it didn't stop them from resuming these activities, SOON as Galante got out.
One question I got, as far as who it would have been. You guys heard of the Napoli brothers in the Gambino Family? They were partners in a ranch in Venuezela, and were named as the biggest movers of junk to the US.
(THIS EXCERPT)
The most intriguing of the dozens [BadWord]-Caruana enterprises was a cattle-breeding company on an extended ranch in the state of Barinas, close to the Colombian border. It had its own private airstrip. A special task-force of the Venezuelan intelligence-service DISIP looked at this farm called Ganaderia Rio Zapa, established in 1971. (49) The shareholders of the firm represented the creme-de-la-creme of Mafia heroin-movers in those days:
* Salvatore 'Cicchiteddu' Greco, the former head of the overall Commission of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, and one of the pioneers in the international heroin trade (50);
* Nick Rizzuto, a lieutenant in the Montreal-based Cotroni Family, but highly independent and in fact subordinate to the Sicilian Mafia (i.e. [BadWord]-Caruana);
* Antonio Napoli, a high-ranking made member of the New York Gambino Family and 'the biggest mover of junk to the United States' (51);
* John Gambino, a relative of Carlo Gambino and boss of the Sicilian faction of the New York Gambino Family (52);
* Brothers Angelo and Francesco Mongiovì, figure-heads of the [BadWord] in Caracas and Italy's financial centre Milan. According to a DEA report, Angelo's son Nino Mongiovì married Paolo [BadWord]'s daughter and was the 'super manager for drugs of all kinds passing through Miami'. (53)
The DEA spotted them investigating the Napoli brothers of the Gambino Family in New York. Antonio Napoli had moved to Venezuela and was a partner in a [BadWord] business. At the time DEA headquarters figured the trail irrelevant; nevertheless, special agent Tom Tripodi was sent to Caracas. DEA-analyst Mona Ewell told reporter Claire Sterling that Tripodi "came back with the whole thing." (54)
Who is this guy?
What I've noticed, is that the Bonnanos come into play, ONLY ONCE THE STUFF GETS TO NY. And in a distribution capacity.
What I've noticed is that the Gambinos consistently try to position themselves at key points in the dope trade, IN ADDITION to moving stuff in NY.
