An international heroin and cocaine trafficker for over fifty years, one of the most low-key “sleepers†to ever operate in America was a Sicilian born Lucchese soldier named Paolo Loduca.
Loduca basically became the Sicilian mafia's "Cocaine Broker", and man in America for brokering and coordinating cocaine smuggling (by the ton).
This is when the Sicilians started their association with the Colombians for the exchange of Cocaine for Heroin, allowing each organization to "sell" their products across the world without the exchange of actual money changing hands.
BTW: connecting to my Vario Story I jumped commented on, Loduca was part of the "Queens" faction of the Lucchese Family also until relocating out to LI.