There's supposedly a conference that happened in March of '57 at the La Palma Hotel in Palermo made up of Sicilian and American bosses.Think the big subject was the drug trade.

It's brought up in a doc. I have but this is the only time I've heard about it. Can't recall ever hearing or reading anything else about it.

Anyone know if this actually took place?


Thanks for info.

Ron

This happened. Joseph Bonanno was in attendence. I believe they actually rolled out a red carpet for him.

One thing you may already know is that Bonanno launched a tirade of abuse at an Italian waiter who called him a pushy American tourist. The waiter learned who Bonanno was and actually kissed the ground for forgiveness.

No, hadn't heard that. The bit in the doc wasn't very detailed. Would you happen to have a book reference on this so I could do some futher reading?

Thanks again for the info.

Ron

Most of the above Bonanno-waiter thing is in John Dickie's Cosa Nostra.

A good account of the Palermo meeting can be found in Claire Sterling's "Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia."

That meeting is a good example of the hypocrisy that surrounds the Mafia, which, supposedly, "declares the death penalty for dealing in drugs." In his autobiography, "A Man of Honor" (sic), Joe Bonanno claims his trip to Italy in 1957 was a "vacation." He also claims that his family never dealt drugs while he was in charge--and that if Galante did, he did it without Bonanno's knowledge. The emerging facts are that Bonanno met with Charlie Luciano and some Sicilian Mafiosi to set up a heroin pipeline at the same time that Vito Genovese was trying get the US Mafia's blessing for drug trafficking at the ill-fated Apalachin meeting.

Thanks for the info gents.

Seems like I shoulda came across this info before....guess it just didn't stick in my noodle.

Ron

Ron -

I stayed there in July of last year. The meeting at the Hotel Grande Delle Palme supposedly started on October 10 1957 and lasted for 4 days. The American mafioso was represented by the following gangsters: Joe Bonanno, boss , Frank Garafolo, underboss, Carmine Galante, consigliere, John Bonventre, capo, Antonio, Giuseppe and Gaspare Maggadino, John Priziola and Santo Sorge. Santo Sorge was cousin from Don Genco Russo, the most important boss from Sicily. Of course Charlie Lucky was also present. It was at that meeting that the decision was made that the Sicilian Mafia would handle the entire heroine shipment to the USA. It's been said that at the same meeting they decided to kill Albert Anastasia. He was shot to death 10 days after the meeting. Carlo Gambino took his place.


I posted this pic last year upon my return:




If you are interested, CLICK HERE FOR SOME MORE PHOTOS from my trip to Italia.

Its a big hello to el expertio here!

Not only does Bonanno claim in his autobio that the trip to Italy was a "vacation," but he never, ever mentions Carmine Galante in the book, and Galante's name isn't in the index--even though he was Joe's underboss at one time.

What do you think Bonanno's reason is for not even mentioning Galante in his book?

Thanks DC!

That's why I like coming here...you guys give out detailed info....

But this brings up another question....I was under the impression Genovese had Albert clipped cause he knew he would probably have'ta deal with him over Costello and he used the membership sales along with the killing of the guy who ratted out Willie Sutton as an excuse for the hit.That was one of the things that Apalachin was supposed to cover.

So if this was discussed and decided upon in Palermo what was the reasoning? The above?

Thanks again,
Ron

Your very welcomed my friend.

You're talking about Arnold Schuster, the guy who fingered Willie Sutton for the feds. Anastasia orderd a hit on Schuster and in doing so had supposedly violated a cardinal rule within the mob that forbid the killing of outsiders. Perhaps this was a good excuse to now get rid of Anasatasia. But something tells me that there was a whole lot more behind the real reason for getting rid of Anastasia. He supposedly had been trying to muscle Meyer Lansky for a larger share of the Cuban casinos, and Lansky and co. were not too happy with Anastasia's demands. Lansky refused, and Anastasia began threatening to bring his own gambling operation into Cuba. Something tells me that the Cuba thing was the "real" reason for getting rid of Anastasia.


The Apalacin meeting took place on November 14th 1957, about a month after the October 10th 1957 Palermo meeting. Anasatsia was killed on October 25th 1957, in-between those two meetings.

(BTW - check your PM).

Thanks again DC!

I do remember reading somewhere about Albert wanting more of the Cuba action.

PM back at ya.

Ron

By the time Bonanno published "A Man of Honor" [sic], the murdered Galante had been thoroughly tagged with drug dealing. And, as you know, the Bonannos lost their seat on the Commission because of extensive drug dealing. So, Joe didn't want anything connecting him to drug dealing. In a TV interview shortly before his death, he claimed that Galante was dealing drugs without his knowledge.

What if Bonanno was telling the truth?

There's another theory about Anastasia that's worth considering (and if you can bear with me):

When Charlie Luciano went to prison in 1936 for Mann Act ("white slavery") violation, he made Genovese acting Don. Genovese fled to Italy the following year, one step ahead of a murder rap. Costello became acting Don. Thanks to brains, guile and political clout, Costello became the top Don in the Five Families--the "Prime Minister of the Underworld."

Costello relied on Willie Moretti, the feared NJ capo for the Luciano family (and the model for Luca Brasi in "The Godfather") for muscle. He made him his underboss. When Genovese returned from Italy after WWII, there was no spot open for him in the family hierarchy except as a street capo. Costello treated him courteously and semi-independently, but Genovese seethed.

Moretti was suffering from tertiary syphillis, and his mind was going. As a result, Costello relied more and more for muscle on Albert Anastasia, then the #2 in Vincent Mangano's family. Then, after a particularly loose-lipped appearance before the Kefauver hearings, the Commission decided that Moretti had to go. He was whacked in a NJ restaurant, either by Anastasia or Genovese.

Then Mangano disappeared in '53, and Anastasia took over. When Costello faced a jail term for contempt of Congress (he walked out of one of Kefauver's hearings), he asked Anastasia to look after his family while he was gone. Genovese saw his chances for regaining his Donship slipping. So, he conspired with Tommy Lucchese to have Anastasia whacked. But Costello found out about the plot and brought it to a Commission meeting. Lucchese threw himself on Anastasia's mercy and (according to Joe Bonanno in his autobio) was forgiven.

That incident temporarily made it impossible for Genovese to take action against either Anastasia or Costello. But Costello was weakened by two jail terms--for contempt of Congress and tax evasion. That's when Genovese felt strong enough to act--by having Anastasia whacked, and by attempting to do likewise on Costello. Frank got the message, and retired.

That was a prime police theory at the time, and Lansky was arrested and questioned by NYPD in connection with Anastasia's murder. But Lanksky's biographer, Robert Lacey, doesn't buy it:

Lansky didn't control all gambling in Havana, and in any event had his hands full with his newly built hotel, the Riviera. The Cuban Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union had recently built the Havana Hilton, and they demanded that a Cuban be given control of the casino. That plum went to Roberto "Chiri" Mendoza, a business associate of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista who was popular with the union. Anastasia and Santos Trafficante met with Mendoza at NYC's Warwick Hotel, no doubt to discuss getting a piece of the action. But Anastasia was assassinated at the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel, where he went for his weekly haircut. That routine was known to his assassins. It's doubtful that Cuban gambling was a factor in Anastasia's death.

That was a prime police theory at the time, and Lansky was arrested and questioned by NYPD in connection with Anastasia's murder. But Lanksky's biographer, Robert Lacey, doesn't buy it:

Lansky didn't control all gambling in Havana, and in any event had his hands full with his newly built hotel, the Riviera. The Cuban Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union had recently built the Havana Hilton, and they demanded that a Cuban be given control of the casino. That plum went to Roberto "Chiri" Mendoza, a business associate of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista who was popular with the union. Anastasia and Santos Trafficante met with Mendoza at NYC's Warwick Hotel, no doubt to discuss getting a piece of the action. But Anastasia was assassinated at the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel, where he went for his weekly haircut. That routine was known to his assassins.

It's doubtful that Cuban gambling was a factor in Anastasia's death. It's far more likely that he was the last impediment to a plot by Genovese and Carlo Gambino to get rid of him, put Gambino in charge of his family, and bless drug trafficking--which were the purposes of the famous Apalachin NY meeting just weeks after the Anastasia hit.