Major drug cases involving NY Mafia (1958-1965)

Outlined below are major drug cases involving the NY Mafia that took place in the late 1950s til mid 1960s. Most of the info comes from Organized Crime and illicit traffic in narcotics, a Report presented to US Senate Subcommittee on Investigation on July, 30th, 1964.

An important interstate narcotic case culminated in 1958 by the Bureau of Narcotics involved Joseph Todaro of Fairfax County of Va., formely of New York City, who obtained heroin from important sources in Italy and France. Todaro and his associates, mobsters in New York City, effected the distribution of heroin to the Camden, Philadelphia area and other cities on the east coast. From these points, the heroin entered into the traffick in local and surrounding areas. The principal defendants in this case besides Todaro, were James Leo Massie (Gambino member), Amelio D´Aria and Ignacio Orlando, Nassau County, Long Island, NY, Peter Casella (Philly member) and James Santore of the Philadeplphia-Camden area, Frank Valli of Philadelphia, Joseph LoPiccolo (Gambino member) of New York City and Miami and George Nobile (Genovese member) of New York City. Nobile assisted Todaro in preparing smoking opium at the latter´s residence. A total of approximately 37 pounds of heroin and approximately 39 pounds of smoking opium were seized in this case. These individuals stood trial and received substantial prison sentences. Todaro and Nobile were sentenced on May 28, 1958 in Fairfax County, Va., to ten years in State Prison.

A large narcotic conspiracy case culminated in 1958 by FBN and involved the boss Vito Genovese, John Ormento (Lucchese member), Natale Evola (Bonanno member) and Rocco Mazzie (Gambino member) and others. This conspiracy began in 1954 and involved the smuggling of large amount of heroin into the United States via Cuba. The heroin handled by this group of men was distributed from New York City to variuos points in United States including Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. This group handled at least 160 kilograms of heroin. Convicted in this case were the following: Vito Genovese, Natale Evola (Bonanno member), Rocco Mazzie (Gambino member), Joseph DiPalermo (Lucchese member), Nicholas Lessa (Lucchese member) and Daniel Lessa. These individuals received substantial prison sentences in this case. Also indicted was Andimo Pappadio (Lucchese member), but acquitted. John Ormento (Lucchese member) and Carmine Galante (Bonanno member) were fugitives in this case at the trial. They were subsequently apprehended in another conspiracy case in which they were found guilty and were sentenced to prison.

In 1959, the FBN culminated several major narcotic cases resulting in the conviction of important violators. One such case involved Marcantonio Orlandino and others. This investigation had its inception in January 1959 when US undercover narcotic agents purchased two 1/2 kilograms of heroin from Sam Monastersky and Richard McGovern of NY City. Further investigation revealed that Monastersky was receiving heroin from Philip and Marcantonio Orlandino. On February 14, 1959 US narcotic agents and NY City police arrested Monastersky, McGovern, William Struzzieri and William Bentvena (the famous Billy Batts). That same evening, officers arrested the Orlandino brothers, seizing a total of 11 kilograms og heroin. The search disclosed a Railway Express reciept for a package to one E. K. Brown of Chicago. Upon receipt of this information, the Chicago office of the FBN arrested Eula Brown and seized close to two kilograms of heroin which she said she was holding for Wilbur Holmes, brother of notorius narcotic trafficker Auckland Holmes. Auckland Holmes was arrested on February 19 when he called for the package. Richard McGovern´s body was later found in a ditch in Acapulco, Mexico, the victim of a gangland assassination. It´s believed that he was murdered for having introduced a narcotic agent into the organisation.

Another significant case made in 1959 involved John Freeman Sr, an important black trafficker, Joseph Valachi (Genovese member), Michael Monica and others. In May 1959, John Freeman Jr and Georgie Flood were arrested in NY City as they were about to deliver eight and a half kilograms of heroin to an undercover narcotic agent. Freeman Sr, operator of two flower shops in NY City, supplied large quantities of heroin to the West Harlem section in New York, South Side Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles. His principal source of heroin supply was Joseph Valachi (Genovese member). Valachi was a fugitive in this case until he was arrested in November 1959 in Connecticut. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in this case, Freeman Sr to 20 years and Monica to eight years. Monica was a narcotic courier for Pasquale Moccio (Genovese member) and purportedly the "plant man" for Michael Nicoline (Genovese member) and Valachi.

Another case culminated in 1959 involved Anthony Pisciotta (Genovese member) and Thomas Garibaldi of New York City. These individuals sold half a kilogram of high grade heroin to a US undercover narcotic agent who had penetrated the distributing organization in Chicago. Following a purchase of heroin, Pisciotta was arrested in December 1959 and sentenced to a substantial prison term due to this case.

The year 1960 witnessed the culmination of at least three major narcotic cases. Mentioned below are the highlights of these cases.

- On October 2, 1960 following information from the French police and the office of the Paris US FBN, French narcotic trafficker Etienne Tarditi, Guatemalan Ambassador to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg: Maurice Rosal; TWA Pursal Charles Bourbonnais and pickup man Nicholas Calamaras, of NY City were arrested by FBN agents and the US Customs Agency Service in midtown Manahattan as Tarditi and Rosal were about to deliver a quantity of 49 kilograms of pure heroin. Tarditi was a member of a French organisation smuggling huge amounts of pure heroin into the US. Bourbonnais was a courier for this organisation at least ten years back. Rosal, taking advantage of his diplomatic status, had been successful for this organisation on previous occasions. Calamaras was a pickup man for New York mobsters who were the intended recipients for the heroin. Four days later, an additional 52 kilograms of pure heroin in a trunk were located and seized. Rosal and Calamaras were sentenced to 15 years in prison in this case. Bourbonnais and Tarditi were given nine years in prison. Calamaras had succeeded one Joseph Cahill as pickup man. Cahill was an associate of notorious narcotic traffickers Steve and Joe Armone (both Gambino members). The Armones were not implicated in this case at the time but it was suspected that they, and other members of their crew were the intended recipients of this heroin. However in 1964, Joseph Armone, Steven Grammauta (Gambino member), Vincent Pacelli (Gambino member), Alfred Armone, Arnold Romano, Nicholas Vescardi and Alexander Schoenfeld were indicted in a seperate case. After convictions, an appeal followed. On June 22, 1965, the jury convicted appellants Joseph Armone, Stephen Grammauta, Vincent Pacelli and Nicholas Viscardi, and acquitted Alfred Armone and Alexander Schoenfeld. On July 29, 1965, Judge Bonsal sentenced Joseph Armone to 15 years, Grammauta to eight years, Pacelli to 18 years, and Viscardi to five years.

- Another important narcotic case culminating in 1960 was the narcotic conspiracy case involving Salvatore Rinaldo and others. In this case, on August 29, 1960, FBN agents and Westchester Police arrested Rinaldo and Matteo Palmeri near Yonkers, NY, in possession of a specially constructed wooden trunk with a false bottom containg 10 kilograms of pure heroin. The officers had just followed Rinaldo and Palmeri from the SS Saturnia which had docked a pier on the North River. A serach of Rinaldo´s home disclosed a trap in the closet containing half kilogram of heroin and a large amount of money. A seach of Rinaldo´s sister´s home revealed an additional half kilogram of heroin along with scales and testing paraphernalia. Further investigation implicated Vincent Mauro (Genovese member), Frank Caruso (Genovese member), Robert Guippone, Anthony Porcelli, Rocco Sancinella (Lucchese member), Joseph Ragone, Salvatore Maneri (Lucchese member) and Charles Schiffman. Mauro, Caruso and Maneri jumped bail and became fugitives in this case. Through the use of false passports they traveled to Europe. FBN, in cooperation with Spanish authorities, arrested Caruso and Mauro in Barcelona and Maneri on the island of Majorca. They were returned to the US where they pleaded guilty and they each received 15 year prison terms and an additional five years in prison for jumping bail, to run concurrently. This case resulted in significant developments in 1961. Following the indictments, 43 traffickers were denounced in Italy for being involved with the smuggling of large quantities of pure heroin from French clandestine heroin producing laboratories into the US via Italy. These sources had supplied Rinaldo with sizable quantities of heroin. An important defendant in another case, an outgrowth of the Rinaldo case, was Alberto Aguecci who had been released on bail on September 18, 1961. On November 23, 1961, the body of Aguecci was found in a field near Rochester, NY. His arms had been bound behind his back with wire and he had been strangled with a clothesline, his body doused with gasoline and set afire. Another defendant in the same case, William Holmes, alias Shorty, considered by the other traffickers to be a weak link, also was murdered. His body was found August 8, 1961 in the Bronx, NY, apparently a victim of gangland slaying. Convicted in the case were: Albert Aguecci, Vito Aguecci (15 years), Arnold Barbato (15 years), Frank Caruso (Genovese member, plead guilty, 15 years), Filippo Cottone (five years), Robert Guippone (20 years), William Holmes, Luigi Le Bue (15 years), Michael Maiello (15 yeras), Salvatore Maneri (plead guilty, 15 years), Vincent Mauro (plead guilty, 15 years), Matthew Palmeri (20 years), John Papaglia (10 years), Anthony Porcelli (15 years), Charles Schiffman (25 years), Rocco Scopelitti (10 years), Charles Tandler (15 years) and Joseph Valachi (20 years). Valachi´s 20 year sentence was to run concurrently with the 20 year sentence he received in the Freeman case.

- The third major narcotic case culminating in 1960 involved Giuseppe "Pep" Cotroni (Bonanno member). This case followed the arrest and convictions of Pep Cotroni, his brother Vincent (Bonanno member??), Peter Stepanoff and Rene Robert and the seizure of six kilograms of pure heroin in Canada in 1959. This resulted in the indictment of 29 defendants in the southern district of NY on charges of narcotic conspiracy. The leading members of this conspiracy were Galante (Bonanno member), John Ormento (Lucchese member), Angelo Tuminaro (Lucchese member), Frank Mari (Bonanno member), Carlie DiPietro (Genovese member), Rocco Sancinella (Lucchese member), Angelo Loicano (Lucchese member) and Frank Mancino (Bonanno member). Anthony DiPasqua (Lucchese member), Charles Gagliodotto (Genovese member), Salvatore Giglio (Bonanno member) and Louis Greco (Bonanno member) had eluded arrest during the roundup. Anthony Mirra, another defendant in the case, had been incarcerated as the result of the Harry Stromberg narcotic case. This case (the Cotroni case) resulted in following convictions: John Ormento (40 years), Samuel Monastersky (30 years), Joseph Fernandez (35 years), William Bentvena (35 years), Carli DiPietro (20 years), Carmine Galante (20 years), Frank Mancino (20 years), Anthony Mirra (20 years), Carmine Panico (12 years), Salvatore Panico (20 years), William Struzzieri (20 years) and Angelo Loiacano (20 years). These individuals distributed the heroin obtained by the Cotroni group into local and interstate traffic.

A significant case made in 1962, charged Frank Borelli (Lucchese member), Angelo Buia, Anthony Castaldi (Lucchese member), Anthony Ciccone (Lucchese member), Benedetto Cinquegrana (Genovese member), Albert DiStefano (Bonanno member??), Alfred Eppolito (Gambino member), Thomas Garibaldi, Carmine Locascio (Lucchese member), Angelo Loiacano (Lucchese member), Joseph Mogavero (Genovese member), Rosario Mogavero (Genovese member), Vincent Renna, Giuseppe Ruffino, Michael Sedotto (Gambino member), Anthony Settecase, David Smith, Rocco Sancinella (Lucchese member), Harry Tantillo and Anthony Castiglia. The principals in this case, especially Carmine Locascio, obtained large quantities of high grade heroin from David Smith and his associate Angelo Buia. Smith and Buia obtained their heroin from French sources. This conspiracy had its inception in 1950 until the date of the indictment in 1962. The case went on trial in November 1963 and resulted in convictions. But the convictions were later reversed and the new indictment was dismissed in 1967 for these individuals: Frank Borelli, Anthony Ciccone, Carmine Locascio, Angelo Loiacano, the Mogavero brothers, Mike Sedotto and Harry Tantillo.

Maurice Roasal when arrested



This is the trunk with the false bottom Salvatore Rinaldi and Matteo Palmeri used after a shipment of heroin had arrived to NY

Great post hairy . Thanks pal

^^^ You´re welcome buddy.

Yes very good. Always interesting reading material.

Great read.Thanks

Good post!

In the 1958 bust with Vito Genovese you need to include Andimo Pappadio as he was one of the top players in that operation along with Vito and Ormento , all 3 were friends having grown up with each other . Andimo was lucky and acquited . Andimo was one of the more powerful gangsters people never heard of , real low key guy that owned the garment district and narcotics trafficker

didn't galante chop him down to size !

He likely played a role but let's not act like this was a video game. His death was upsetting to a lot of people

Thanks guys!



Thanks! Will include him in the post.



Pappadio was killed, but no one can say for sure why and who was behind it.

True HairyHnuckles. No one can say for sure why or who was behind Pappadio being killed, but Tony Ducks believed that Carmine Galante was behind it years after Pappadio was killed.

Just a sidenote really, but newspapers at the time (and most likely wrongfully so) wrote that there might have been a connection between the Pappadio and Pete Licata (Bonanno captain) murders. They said it was a struggle for power because Gambino´s recent death had left a power vacuum. We know now though that that´s not the case. Both the Pappadio and the Licata murders have never been solved.

Iread on the Sixth Family book that Licata was murdered beacause was an old time gangster,and don't want that that his men sell drug,and for this was whacked.

Claire Sterling wrote the same thing in her book on the Sicilian mafia. Licata was trying to keep the babania off knickerbocker in brooklyn and the zips whacked him

thanks for the post.

Claire Sterling was a sensationalist who tended to exaggerate and jump to conclusions. Can't take all of her statements at face value.

BTW, agreed that Hairy did a great job.

Does anyone have more information on john 'pops' freeman sr? heard he once slapped CAPONE at a racetrack in chicago . and made a fortune in south jamaica queens IN THE SMACK BIZ

I wanted to bump this thread up simply because I find it fascinating how many mafia members were involved in the heroin trade--exploding once and for all the myth that the mafia discouraged such activity among its members--and how they worked across family lines and with people outside the mafia altogether

There really needs to be a book written about the heroin trade, from its origins up until circa 1990, if not the present day

The Mafia was heavily involved in the narcotics trade. Some bosses allowed their troops into it, others did not. There was however a national ban against drug dealing issued by the bosses, but this ban was not followed by its members. It seems to me that the bosses took this ban seriously, even though these same bosses were themselves engaged with drugs while just soldiers or captains. For example, Carlo Gambino is said to have been in the drug trade while an underling to Mangano and Anastasia. But once he became a boss, he forbade his troops to deal in drugs. This was confirmed by members who talked to the feds. And contrary to what many believe, any member who dealt in drugs was truly in serious trouble if the bosses found out.

I think they allowed certain people to deal drugs during that ban. I think it was more of a power thing they didn't want every flunky underneath them making that kind of money.

This is a question then for Hairy Knuckles, who clearly knows more about the subject than me. If Carlo Gambino had a rule against drug dealing, then how to account for the following:

(1) his brother Paolo
(2) his cousins in Cherry Hill
(3) and all the people cited in the cases you summarize at the beginning of this thread =

In fact, it seems that Joe Armone would later be involved as part of the famed French Connection case, for which he received a fifteen year sentence (serving 10 years)

Shortly after becoming boss, Paul Castellano promoted Armone to caporegime. Armone then became underboss during the Gotti reign

Let me first point out that I am not disputing the fact that the Mafia was heavily involved with the narcotics trade. That is not even debatable. What I am trying to say is that during a Commission meeting in 1957, it was decided by the bosses that the Mafia was to get out of the narcotics business. One of the reasons for this was because the US Congress had enacted the Narcotics Control Act, in full effect by mid 1957. This act was designed to facilitate arrests and convictions of heroin importers. This meant not only stiffer sentences for the men involved, but they also faced deportation. And if I am fully informed, this applied also to those who had gained American citizenship. However, the ban did not discourage Mafia members, especially the younger ones, who was set out to quickly enrich themselves.

It´s possible that some of the bosses still allowed their men into the drug trade, Tommy Lucchese for example. But in 1963, according to an informant, Carlo Gambino announced that all members of his Family involved with drug trafficking will be punished. You can find this either in the Scarpa files or in some document found on the Mary Ferrell site. The Armone case was brought to trial in 1965. But the actual conspiracy took place before Gambino´s announcement. Paul Gambino was said to have been into drugs in the 1940s and 1950s. The reputation carried with him into the 1960s. Who can say that he surely was into drugs after Carlo´s announcement? Maybe he was. And if he was, perhaps he felt that being the brother of Carlo, made him safe from punishment if caught. According to an informant, one of the reasons Gambino´s underboss Joe Biondo was demoted and shelved was his involvement with drugs.

The Cherry Hill Gambinos were not made at the time and some rules in the Mafia does not apply to associates in the same way as they apply to made members. The Cherry Hill Gambinos were made much later, in the late 1970s or early 1980s when Paul Castellano was the boss. It´s crystal clear to me that Castellano was against drug dealing. When John Carneglia and Angelo Ruggiero were caught, informants advised the FBI that Castellano had been totally unaware of the two of them dealing.

This is an article by Nicholas Pileggi, "Anatomy of the Drug War," from January 1973. He writes of a self-imposed 10-year ban on drug dealing by the mafia, which ran from 1962 until 1972. Pileggi makes a number of interesting remarks:

(1) "Gambino has been importing foreign-born mafiosi like Buscetta for several years, and police intelligence officers suspect that much of the pressure being applied to organized crime leaders to return to narcotics has been exerted by these old-world imports."

(2) "The Bonanno's have been well known as a drug family since the early 1930s, when Joseph Bonanno first put the Sicily-Marseilles-Montreal-New York route together. The Bonanno mafia family has always been divided evenly between Montreal and New York . . . . It is the remnants of the old Bonanno family who are most in need of the drug trade, and it will therefore fall to Rastelli in New Jersey to take on the well-organized and deeply entrenched Cuban gangs"

Full article here = https://books.google.com/books?id=noI5n-RRLi8C&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=