Lucky Luciano in Sicily

After looking at some of the wonderful pictures Toodped posted of him in exile in Sicily I'm wondering what kind of influence Lucky still held over his family in NY. I've read that he wasn't particularly fond of Vito Genonvese.

Also it was said after his sudden death that the Italian authorities were going to close down on him for a charge of running an international narcotics ring. What are the details of this?

The thread so good he had to make it twice

I've read Tim Newark's opinion on the matter in the book Boardwalk Gangster and the consensus there is that his power was greatly overstated. Reason being? The US government needed a figurehead to demonize so they could catalyze the public against the mafia. Lucky's name was one of the only household mafia names since Al Capone. So he was an easy outlet for their frustration. He definitely dabbled in narcotics but there truly were bigger fish to fry among the Sicilians. Even some of the American-born Sicilian transplants like Frank Garafolo and Frank Coppola (Mikey Coppola's brother) pushed more weight than Lucky ever did. Truth be told he was lonely. Lots of girlfriends but his only callers from back in New York were Meyer and Costello. Apparently Joe Adonis didn't feel the need to visit or pay respects once he was deported back to Sicily...and that says a lot.

Thanks for the info Barrett

Apologies for the double thread post, I thought it didn't go through the first time so I put it in again, lol.

Maybe a mod could bin the surplus thread, thanking in advance.

Lucky was a true illegal businessman.Wherever he went,he made business partners and established illegal enterpises.The problem was that he never could've done the big cash ammounts like in the U.S. because he was exiled.He depended on his old connections from back home.During his stay in Italy he was mainly involved in the narcotics business for example the Italian pharmaceutical company Schiaparelli case, the fake doll auction case,the alleged candy business and many more...

Ill also disagree on the statement that he was a loner, because he wasnt the only mobster who was deported to Italy.Lucky was also constantly visited by many U.S. mafiosi,including Chicago Outfit figures like Jim Emery.Theres a famous picture with the two of them in Italy.Many of the exiled Italian mafiosi went to other European cities such as Milan, Hamburg, Paris, and Marseille and together they formed international illegal enterpises. For example, the French Connection.From Europe heroin was shipped directly to New York or smuggled through Canada and Cuba.

Shortly before Lucky's death, in Spain the Federal Bureau of Narcotics arrested 3 of his heroin couriers, who were fleeing a narcotics indictment in New York.They were arrested by Spanish authorities just few days before Luciano's death and were sent back to New York to face trial. The 3 men were Vincent Mauro,Frank Caruso and Salvatore Maneri.The government submitted evidences that Lucky provided them with the travel expenses so the agents began to consider an indictment against him.Lucky knew this and he wasnt ready for another long jail term.So maybe that was one of the biggest reasons for his heart attack

Luciano was paroled and exiled to Italy in '46. Later that year he called a Commission meeting in Havana and attempted to re-establish himself in a leading role. The US government got wind of it (some say Genovese ratted him out), and Cuba deported him back to Sicily. Thereafter his influence in the US diminished year by year.

There's evidence that shows that Luciano was more involved in heroin than Tim Newark wrote in his book, and I don't believe that FBN agents like Charles Siragusa created a false image of him to increase funding. Siragusa was a top agent who followed Luciano for years, so was George White and others, and they had enough witnesses that with today's RICO law they probably could have made a case against him.

BTW, "Three Fingers" Frank Coppola was not related to Michael Coppola. Frank came from Partinico, Sicily and was part of the Detroit mob before he was deported and Michael, a caporegime in the Genovese Family, came from Salerno, near Naples.

Frank Coppola was related to the Gambinos I think? He was the point man in the coke (?) business in Naples with the Camorra and Raffaele Cutolo's NCO.

Luciano continued to be visited by US Mob guys even while in Sicily. He thrived off the deportations of other mob guys and developed ties with them, and the guys they sent orders to back in the states, like Dominic Roberto & Frank Coppola and established a narcotics ring around some of those ties. He wasn't a loner or out of the action by any real means.

If Frank Coppola was related to anyone it would have been the Detroit faction from Partinico.

Retracted the photos I posted.

I just signed up for Dropbox, but your photo/file wouldn't open. I get an error message instead.

See the above post, i uploaded to photobucket and now you can view the images on the thread.

Wow that is a great photo. Surely haven't seen that one before!

Yes, great photos. Thanks for posting.