MAJOR HEROIN RING BROKEN, FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY
By LEONARD BUDER
SEPT. 21, 1983

Federal authorities said yesterday that they had smashed a major drug importation and distribution ring with the arrest of seven people and the seizure of more than 59 pounds of heroin with an estimated street value of $65 million.

Thomas Sheer, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's criminal division in New York, said that the heroin had been brought to this country from Italy by ship on Sept. 13, hidden in hollowed-out wooden pallets containing ceramic tiles intended for a Buffalo tile company.

United States Customs agents discovered the drugs and Federal authorities secretly confiscated some of them, substituting a harmless white powder for 39.6 pounds of heroin.

Shipment Tracked to Buffalo
Salvatore R. Martoche, the United States Attorney for the Western District, who took part in a news conference at the F.B.I.'s headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza, said that Federal authorities then set up an elaborate surveillance operation. It tracked the shipment from Elizabeth, N.J., to Buffalo and enabled law-enforcement agents to observe the actions of those involved. Part of the shipment was then brought to New York City. Six of the suspects were arrested yesterday in the New York area, where 20 pounds of heroin were seized. One arrest was made in Buffalo. Another man - Filippo Ragusa, 51 years old, of 61-12 Gates Avenue in Queens - is being sought.
Officials said that, in addition to the 59.6 pounds of heroin, $390,000 in cash and several weapons had been confiscated.

Those arrested in the New York City area were Lorenzo Scaduto, 32 years old, of Dix Hills, L.I.; Salvatore Bartolotta, 31, of 58-75 Fresh Pond Road, Queens; Angelo Golio, 62, of 1428 Stadium Avenue, the Bronx; Michael Altamura, 56, of 59-14 Maspeth Avenue, Queens, and Pietro Graffeo, 49, and Domenico Logalbo, no age given, both of Sicily. Andrea Aiello, 43, of Buffalo, was arrested in that city.

Authorities said all were being charged with conspiracy to import and distribute heroin.

Andrea "Antonio" Aiello "Buffalo Tile Importer" Court Case from 1985

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/771/621/379881/

LA TIMES
U.S., Italy in Mass Mafia Drug Arrests : 200 Charged in Joint Undercover Operation Aimed at Top Leaders
December 01, 1988|Associated Press


WASHINGTON — U.S. and Italian authorities announced today they have charged more than 200 people, including major figures in the Sicilian Mafia, in a joint undercover operation targeting international cocaine and heroin drug-trafficking rings in both countries.

Arrests were underway in Baltimore; Buffalo, N.Y.; Miami; Newark, N.J.; New York; Philadelphia; San Francisco, and Rockford, Ill. In Italy, arrests were being made in Palermo, Bologna and Florence.

Among the 75 people charged in the United States and 133 in Italy were some of the "top leaders" of organized crime, FBI Director William S. Sessions said.

An FBI spokesman, William Carter, said that, by midday, 52 people had been arrested in the United States and 22 in Italy.

Sessions said the arrests culminated a "long-term, undercover operation" that he said "builds strong cases against top leaders" of organized crime.
The FBI said it used court-authorized wiretaps, physical surveillance and heroin and cocaine buys to develop evidence leading to the arrests here and in Italy.

The Italian news agency AGI said the two-year investigation that led to the raids stemmed from the "Pizza Connection" international drug ring that sold $1.6-billion worth of heroin, mostly through pizzerias in the United States. A U.S. court convicted 18 people in connection with that ring, and Italian prosecutors indicted 28 people for their alleged involvement.

In a statement, the FBI said the operation developed from what originally were independent criminal investigations in Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia.

They grew into a coordinated probe when agents found links between many of the targets of the separate investigations.

The Buffalo case was initially designed to concentrate on drug-trafficking rings in the western New York area and was code named "Busico," which stands for "Buffalo Sicilian Connection.”

It ultimately became tied to a probe in Philadelphia called the "Iron Tower" case, eventually requiring the cooperation of six FBI field offices, three Italian police agencies, other U.S. government agencies and overseas support of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Undercover FBI agents traveled to Italy to discuss major drug buys. Italian police inspectors worked with FBI agents on the investigation in New York and Philadelphia.

In Italy, the news agency ANSA said police were seeking at least 37 people there who were named in arrest warrants issued by anti-Mafia Magistrate Giovanne Falcone.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP)
Buffalo FBI Agent Infiltrated Sicilian Crime Families
By Darren Dopp
December 2, 1988


The key to an FBI sting operation that led to drug trafficking charges against more than 200 people was a savvy undercover agent who knew the customs of Sicilian organized crime, authorities said Friday.

″He was schooled in the rules of the Sicilian-Italian underworld - who to talk to and how to show respect to the elders. He was able to gain the confidence of the Sicilian Mafia,″ said J. Ronnie Webb, a supervisory agent in the FBI’s Buffalo office.

Authorities announced Thursday that they had smashed a major heroin and cocaine ring by charging more than 200 people in the United States and Italy, including Sicilian Mafia figures and associates of the Gambino crime family in New York. Officials said Friday that 60 people had been arrested in the United States and 24 in Italy, and the others were still being sought.

Code-named BUSICO for Buffalo-Sicilian Connection, the FBI operation got its start in 1983 during the arrest of Andrea Aiello of Buffalo on charges of trying to import some 50 pounds of heroin. At the time, it was called the largest heroin seizure ever in the United States.

In the course of the Aiello investigation, the undercover agent learned of the desire by Sicilian crime figures to ship heroin to the United States through Buffalo.

Despite the attention the Aiello case drew, the Buffalo agent remained undercover and was able to cultivate underworld contacts for several years.

Steven Naum, an FBI public affairs officer, said the agent, whose identity is being kept secret, was skilled at passing himself as a drug dealer.

″It was Acting 101 for him sometimes,″ Naum said.

The investigation speeded up in 1985 with the so-called ″Pizza Connection″ arrests in New York City and other cities. After that, Webb said, the Sicilians considered New York ″too hot.″

Buffalo was targeted by smugglers because it is close to Canada and 400 miles away from New York City and its large number of narcotics agents, authorities said.

In the spring of 1986, the FBI set up a phony international trading business, dubbed BSC Partake Wholesale, in a Buffalo suburb. The idea was to import heroin concealed in jars of tomatoes and olive oil.

Although the operation never developed as a narcotics distribution point, it did allow the undercover agent to broaden his contacts among drug dealers in the United States and Italy.

The agent went to Sicily, where he was able to win the confidence of the Sicilian ″family″ running the smuggling operation.

When he returned in 1987, BSC Partake Wholesale made ″dry run″ to test the route. The Sicilian organization sent the Hamburg company 744 cases of tomatoes.

In July, the cases of tomatoes arrived in Buffalo undisturbed. FBI agents and local U.S. Customs agents had notified customs in New York City, and officials quickly sent the shipment through, Webb said.

At the same time, undercover agents flew to Chicago, San Francisco, New York City and Rockford, Ill. Using ties to the Sicilian family, they met international drug smugglers with global operations.

″The investigation mushroomed from there,″ Webb said.

BUSICO spun off a number of undercover operations in other cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Newark, N.J. Authorities were reluctant in give details of those operations because they were continuing.

In New York, however, U.S. Attorney Rudolph Guliani said a related investigation revealed that members of the Gambino crime family were importing heroin in wine bottles from Sicily and distributing it to buyers through pizza parlors.

The Gambino organization swapped cocaine for the heroin. Cocaine has a higher street value in Italy, Guliani said.

The deal is evidence of the increasing role of the Mafia in cocaine trafficking, he said. Previously, cocaine trafficking was mainly the business of South American drug lords.

THE BUFFALO NEWS

SON OF ENVOY, FRISCO 'BROKER' ARE BIG FISH IN FBI DRUG 'STING'
By Dan Herbeck | Published December 1, 1988

A globe-trotting San Francisco man and the son of an African ambassador are the key drug traffickers arrested in an international "sting" operation that started in Buffalo, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

"Operation BUSICO" -- a three-year investigation that resulted in 200 arrests -- had its beginnings here, but the probe's real focus was on international drug connections, U.S. Attorney Dennis C. Vacco said.

"It's very important to us that this investigation began in the Buffalo FBI office, but the most important drug connections were made in places all over the world," Vacco said.

Although some of the local suspects are considered associates of organized crime in the Buffalo area, the investigation did not prove that local Mafia leaders are directly involved with drug traffic, federal officials said.

The probe got its start with information from a Buffalo informant in 1983 and was headquartered in a bogus import-export operation that the FBI set up in a nondescript Hamburg storefront.

Agents of the Customs Service helped the FBI with the import office after learning from the informant that Sicilian drug lords wanted to establish such an operation in the United States.

Results of the sting were announced Thursday in press conferences in Buffalo, Washington, D.C., and Rome. The Italian news agency ANSA said the people named in the Italian arrest warrants were members of the Satola, Gambino and Inzerillo crime families in Italy and the United States. The state-run RAI-TV said several top Mafia figures were among those arrested. Police stressed that not all those arrested were connected with the Mafia.

All but one of the 13 arrests made in Buffalo were described by Vacco and FBI officials as relatively minor in comparison to those made in Italy and throughout the United States.

But of the two men identified as big players in the entire operation, one was arrested in Orchard Park.

Nigel Sevan Soobiah, 40, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was arrested late Wednesday night after he delivered a kilogram of heroin to undercover FBI agents in an Orchard Park apartment, agents said.

Andrew M. Cooper of New York City, described as a minor player, also was arrested as an accomplice of Soobiah’s.

Soobiah, an antique dealer, is the son of a diplomat in Mauritus, a small nation on the eastern coast of Africa, according Special Agent G. Robert Langford, commander of Buffalo's FBI office.

The second man identified as a major player in the trafficking was arrested in San Francisco.

Sergio Maranghi, 51, was arrested on cocaine trafficking charges there Thursday. He and Soobiah were identified as the key suspects who helped agents make drug connections from Amsterdam to Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Maranghi presented himself as a traveling international drug "broker" and apparently held no other occupation, FBI agents said.

As word of the arrests -- more than half of them in Italy -- spread through the Buffalo area Thursday, defense attorneys were critical of the probe.

"My client is charged with selling two ounces of cocaine to an informant on March 29, 1988," said John F. Humann, lawyer for Angelo P. Rizzo, who is charged with distribution of two ounces of cocaine. "To turn something like this into a story about a world drug ring seems pretty wild to me.”

But neighbors of the Hamburg storefront where the agents ran their sting operation said the arrests confirmed suspicions that something odd was afoot there
.
The company, known as BSC Partake Wholesale Inc., was located in the South Shore Plaza. Those who did business in the plaza said they suspected the location was being used for criminal activities -- not police activities.

Agents chose the BSC acronym because it stood for "Buffalo-Sicilian Connection," Langford said.

"I always wondered what was in there," said a waitress who works in a nearby restaurant. "It seemed like it was a front for something.”

Plaza workers said the Southwestern Boulevard storefront was rented out about three years ago by a man -- apparently an FBI agent -- who told them he was in the wholesale food business and could get them bargains on cheese and tomato sauce.
"We never took him up on it," said the waitress, who asked to remain anonymous.

Although initial plans called for heroin and cocaine to be shipped inside cans of tomato sauce and olive oil, drugs never actually came through the Hamburg location. But the agents' involvement in the business gave them a front that allowed them to deal with international drug traders, Vacco said.

"People who thought they were dealing with some shady import-export guys who dabbled in drug-dealing were actually dealing with the FBI," the U.S. attorney said.

This also enabled the agents to become involved with the 12 local men, most of whom were arraigned on minor drug-trafficking charges, Vacco said. Two of these 12 suspects were charged with selling counterfeit luxury watches to the agents.

Attorneys for some of the Buffalo suspects late Thursday criticized the federal prosecutor for publicly announcing their clients' arrests as part of a crackdown on the international drug trade.

Humann, the lawyer for Rizzo, accused Vacco's office of making "wild exaggerations" about his client and others.

Humann said that he doesn't think the Buffalo suspects have any connection whatever to international drug trading. Similar comments were made by another defense attorney.

"From what I can see, the FBI had an informant running around the West Side, trying to buy cocaine," Humann said. "One of the suspects (Frank Grisanti) is only charged with selling one gram to him.”

Vacco said no exaggerations were made in government press releases on the case. He said his office made clear that the Buffalo suspects were believed to be involved in local drug traffic only

THE BUFFALO NEWS
ARRESTS TARGET DRUG RING TIED TO MOB LISTENING DEVICE PLANTED IN CAR LEADS TO 12 INDICTMENTS
By Dan Herbeck | Published June 26, 1989

Federal officers today were rounding up suspects in an alleged mob-related cocaine ring cracked with the assistance of a secret listening device planted in the car of a reputed captain in the Buffalo Mafia, authorities said.

Led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, investigators moved at dawn to pick up 12 suspects named in sealed indictments handed up by a federal grand jury Friday.

Authorities said the Torina drug ring, which was under investigation for more than two years, is believed to be responsible for more than $2 million in street sales of cocaine annually in the Buffalo area.

The probe has turned up the strongest links ever found between the area's cocaine trade and organized crime, according to Special Agent George Preston, chief of the DEA's Buffalo office.

"This is a mob-controlled drug ring," Preston said.

A federal law known unofficially as the "drug kingpin statute" will be used to prosecute three of the major players in the ring, U.S. Attorney Dennis C. Vacco said.

A secret microphone was hidden in the car of Leonard F. Falzone, a reputed captain in the Buffalo Mafia, to gather evidence on area mob activities, Vacco and other law enforcement officials confirmed.

Falzone will not be charged in the drug probe, but FBI agents said conversations monitored in the vehicle last year indicated that local mob leaders sanctioned the cocaine ring.

"Conversations overheard in the car of Leonard Falzone indicated that this drug operation was being directed by the mob hierarchy in Buffalo," said G. Robert Langford, special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office.

The FBI planted the bug last year in Falzone's car, a 1987 Buick paid for by Laborers Local 210, where Falzone works as administrator of the health and welfare benefits fund.

Refusing to discuss the methods used by agents to plant the secret listening device, Langford said the bug was in place for about six months last year. The court-authorized bug has since been removed.

As required by law in all eavesdropping cases, Falzone has since been notified that his conversations were monitored. About 10 other persons whose

conversations in the car were also monitored have received official notifications, FBI agents said.

Evidence gathered in the car will be helpful "in this investigation and several others still pending," one law enforcement official said.

Asked why Falzone and Joseph Todaro, named by the FBI as leader of the Buffalo mob, have not been charged in the drug probe, Preston said: "At this point, we do not have sufficient evidence to arrest them."

"There are ongoing investigations involving other mob members," Langford said.

Three of the suspects indicted Friday are known associates of the Buffalo Mafia, FBI agents said.

The probe started with a police officer's undercover purchase of an ounce of cocaine, Preston said.

"From there, we just let the money do the walking and worked our way up the organization," he said.

The probe included investigators from the DEA, the FBI, the Erie County Sheriff's Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the state police and numerous other federal, state and local agencies, Vacco said.

Vacco said investigators hope to have all 12 suspects in custody by the end of the day. Two are already in state prisons in other cases.
Already jailed are:

Joseph "Pepe" Cannizzaro, 64, 392 Lafayette Ave., currently serving an unrelated drug sentence at the Collins Correctional Facility, one count of conspiracy. Identified by the FBI as a known mob associate.

Gerald Hayden, 32, 30 Danforth St., currently serving unrelated drug sentence at the Wende Correctional Facility, conspiracy, racketeering in interstate transportation, running a continuing criminal enterprise, 13 counts of cocaine distribution and two counts of using the telephone to facilitate drug sales.

Arrested today were:

Albino "Sha-Sha" Principe, 55, a laborer, of 115 Linda Drive, Depew, conspiracy, cocaine distribution, using the telephone to facilitate drug sales, possession of a firearm by a prior felon and two counts of racketeering in interstate transportation. Identified by the FBI as a known mob associate.

Salvatore "Sam Naples" Napoli, 52, a Local 210 laborer, of 2084 Dodge Road, Amherst, charged with conspiracy, distribution of cocaine, four counts of using the telephone to facilitate drug sales, two counts of racketeering in interstate transportation and running a continuing criminal enterprise. The FBI said Napoli is also a known mob associate.

George Piccione, 24, 684 Prospect Ave., occupation unknown, conspiracy.

Mark Cancilla, 31, 38 Wellington Road, self-employed contractor, conspiracy and five counts of cocaine distribution.

Karen Zintek, 26, 37 Lemans St., Cheektowaga, a waitress, cocaine distribution.

THE BUFFALO NEWS

WORLD DRUG RING TIED TO BUFFALO 12 FROM WNY AMONG TARGETS OF U.S. PROBE
By Dan Herbeck | Published November 30, 1988

Federal agents today began arresting more than 200 international drug-trafficking suspects implicated in a widespread, three-year investigation that started in Buffalo and apparently cracked an organized-crime heroin and cocaine ring.

The Buffalo case was initially designed to concentrate on drug-trafficking rings in Western New York and was code-named "Busico," which stands for "Buffalo-Sicilian Connection," officials in Washington said.

"This was no simple 'buy-bust' case," FBI Director William Sessions told a news conference in Washington. "Instead, the FBI used its expertise to develop the kind of long-term, undercover operation that builds strong cases against top leaders."

An import-export business run by undercover FBI agents in Hamburg served as the headquarters for the operation aimed at drug connections linking the Sicilian Mafia with organized-crime families in Buffalo, New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco, federal officials said today.

The arrests -- including 12 in Western New York -- were announced today. By noon, officials said, 52 suspects had been arrested in the United States and at least 22 had been apprehended in Italy.

A prominent funeral home owner who was the Lackawanna Chamber of Commerce's Man of the Year in 1987 and an official of Laborers Local 210 who also is facing racketeering charges were among the suspects in a case that also involved importing counterfeit watches.

In a noon news conference at the Buffalo FBI office, U.S. Attorney Dennis C. Vacco and FBI Special Agent G. Robert Langford called the probe a major strike at a large-scale drug operation.

"Numerous purchases of heroin and cocaine were made by Buffalo undercover agents throughout the United States," Vacco said.

Langford estimated the street-sale value of drugs purchased by the Buffalo agents at almost $5 million.

FBI spokesman Harry Mount said in Washington the investigation focused on Sicilians as one of three major groups the FBI believes dominate the world drug trade.

The probe identified "numerous family-type operations," Mount said. "I don't mean in a traditional, Mafia-type family. I mean literally families.”

Ten of the 12 local suspects were initially charged with narcotics trafficking, pending their arraignments.

Langford said the investigation was a spin-off of the 1983 drug probe that led to the arrest and conviction of Andy Aiello, a North Buffalo bathroom tile dealer, who was accused of possessing more than 50 pounds of heroin.

As a result of that investigation, the FBI learned that Sicilian organized crime leaders wanted to establish a drug connection using an import-export business in the United States.

The original plan called for Italian drug exporters to put the drugs in plastic bags and hide them inside cans of tomato paste and olive oil.

This led the FBI and the U.S. Customs Service to set up the BSC Partake Wholesale Inc. operation, which was housed on Southwestern Boulevard in Hamburg. Lang ford said the acronym "BSC" was chosen because it stood for Buffalo-Sicilian Connection.

Law enforcement officials said the local suspects were not directly involved in the international end of the case.

Italian cities involved in the case were Milan, Florence, Rome and Palermo, Sicily. Drugs apparently were moved between Buffalo and London; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle, and Los Angeles.

"Buffalo is where it started," said local FBI spokesman Steve Naum.

All those arrested in Italy allegedly belonged to the Spatola, Gambino and Inzerillo Mafia families and were involved in multimillion-dollar narcotics traffic in Sicily and the United States, authorities said.

The Buffalo "sting" investigation was centered on BSC Wholesale, authorities said. The import-export business was actually a cover for undercover agents from the FBI who traveled through the United States and Italy setting up drug connections.

"People who thought they were dealing with some shady import-export guys who dabbled in drug-dealing were actually dealing with the FBI," Vacco said.

The import-export business bought and sold olive oil and other food products, the Buffalo prosecutor added.

FBI officials in Washington said 75 of the suspects are being taken into custody in the United States, with the remainder in Italy.

The Buffalo-area roundup began late Wednesday night and was continuing this afternoon. Identified as suspects were:

Joseph P. Lombardo, 32, president of the Lackawanna Chamber of Commerce and a funeral director who runs funeral parlors in Hamburg, Buffalo and Amherst and listed the homes as his addresses. Lombardo has long been active with the Lackawanna Chamber, which named him its Man of the Year in 1987, and other civic groups.

John R. Catanzaro, 46, of 25 Wellington Road, Buffalo, a Local 210 steward. He is already facing labor racketeering charges filed last year. Catanzaro and another suspect were arrested on charges relating to counterfeit Rolex watches, and not drug charges.

Catanzaro, a convicted burglar, was ordered by a federal judge to appear in a 1980 police lineup in connection with the killing of William B. Sciolino, a Local 210 steward. A witness who saw three men abandon an apparent getaway car shortly after the Sciolino slaying made no identification. That killing remains unsolved.
Catanzaro was one of two Laborers Local 210 officials indicted by a federal grand jury in April as part of a probe of no-show jobs on Western New York construction sites.

Catanzaro, an auditor for Local 210, was charged with demanding and receiving $35,000 in wages to guarantee labor peace as a no-show union steward on the construction of a brine pipeline between Wyoming County and Niagara Falls.

Frank Grisanti, 46, of 23 Losson Garden Drive, Cheektowaga, a union steward, Local 210.
Ronald H. Chimera, 37, of 221 Lexington Ave., an employee of J&M Distributors.

Frank J. Mahiques, 32, of 1306 Gowan Road, Angola, a remodeling contractor.

Fred M. Saia, 54, of 253 Highland Ave. No occupation listed. He, too, faces watch counterfeiting charges, not drug charges.

Gary L. Carter, 32, manager of Sunshine Motors, a South Buffalo car dealership.

Also, Paul Catania, no age or occupation listed; Francis S. Catania, 63, a laborer; and Victor F. Catania, 33, an aerial advertiser who flew planes over Rich Stadium trailing banners. All listed 219 Lexington Ave. as their home address. Francis Catania is the father of Victor and Paul.

Paul J. Palladino, 61, of 2106 Delaware Ave., a truck driver.

Angelo P. Rizzo, 71, of 12 Brauton St. No occupation listed.
Some suspects are still at large, the U.S. attorney added.

The Buffalo News learned that two senior officers of the Justice Department's Immigration and Naturalization Service, stationed at JFK International Airport in New York, may be involved in the scandal.

Staff Reporters Gene Warner and Michael Beebe contributed to this report.

A SECOND 'PIZZA' DRUG RING IS BROKEN UP BY AUTHORITIES
By SELWYN RAAB NOV. 16, 1984

For the second time in seven months, a narcotics ring that used pizzerias in the city to camouflage large-scale heroin and cocaine deals has been broken up, Federal officials said yesterday.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the ring - which operated out of pizza parlors in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens - was ''definitely linked'' to the international ''Pizza Connection'' gang that was broken up in April.

Mr. Giuliani said that both groups used pizzerias as covers and that their leaders were recent immigrants from Sicily who were members of the Joseph Bonanno organized-crime organization in New York.

14 Arrested in Raids
In a series of raids last week, the auhorities arrested 14 people on charges of selling drugs and conspiracy to distribute drugs. All 14 pleaded not guilty at hearings Wednesday night in Federal District Court in Manhattan after the accusations were unsealed.

The reputed head of the group was identified in court papers as Anthony Aiello, 46 years old, of 75-21 Caldwell Avenue, Middle Village, Queens. Federal officials said Mr. Aiello and another suspect were still at large.

Eight pounds of heroin, two pounds of cocaine, $1.6 million in cash and 26 handguns, rifles and shotguns guns were seized in raids on homes in Manhattan and Queens. Mr. Aiello's father, Vito Aiello, 73, also was arrested and more than $900,000 was found in his home at 69-04 59th Drive, Maspeth, Queens, according to Andrew Pucher, a spokesman for the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

A 'Most Significant' Case
Last April, a Federal grand jury in Manhattan indicted 31 people on charges of smuggling more than $1 billion worth of heroin into the United States in two years. That group used pizza restaurants in New York and elsewhere to distribute heroin, according to the indictment.

In addition to New York, arrests were made in Newark, Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit, as well as in Spain, Italy and Switzerland.

At the time, Attorney General William French Smith said, ''It is the most significant case involving heroin trafficking by traditional organized crime that has ever been developed by the Government.''

He added, ''We estimate that the ring has imported at least 330 pounds of heroin a year for the past five years.’'

Mr. Guiliani said members of both gangs met at a restaurant owned by Anthony Aiello, the Cafe Aiello, 66-20 Fresh Pond Road in Fresh Pond, Queens. Based on surveillance and other evidence, Mr. Giuliani said, ''There is no question these two groups are definitely linked and had close connections.’'

'A Very Extensive Operation'
Mr. Aiello's purported drug ring, Mr. Giuliani asserted, was ''a very extensive operation and very heavy into heroin.'' He said Mr. Aiello had lived in New York since 1978.

In addition to Cafe Aiello, Mr. Aiello operated four pizzerias in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, which Federal agents said were used for drug sales. According to the charges, heroin purchases were made by undercover agents at Tony's Pizza Parlor, 164 West 125th Street, which is across the street from the state office building in Harlem, at 125th Street and Seventh Avenue.

The 16-month investigation was conducted by the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, consisting of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and investigators from the New York City and State police forces.


I WONER IF ANTHONY WAS RELATED TO ANDREA AIELLO IN BUFFALO?

Now Given the arrests in Buffalo and the article talking about bugging Leonard Falzone's car to see how Buffalo was running its own drug ring, how can Lee Coppola write this in his 1998 Buffalo News article "The Withered Arm?"



At least a few years later in an operation that arose from this arrest, the Buffalo Bosses were very much in control of drug trafficking. Further Todaro put Johnny Pops in charge of his Canadian crews when he took over in ‘83 or ‘84. Pops was definitely involved in the drug trade since the French Connection many years earlier.

And by the way, Volpe backed the Pieri faction before Todaro was made boss by the commission. Papalia always backed Todaro and paid his tax... So Todaro always knew what was going on with the Toronto drug trafficking and benefited from it. Volpe wouldn't pay tribute and had become a ”lone wolf.” That is why Todaro had him taken out.

I posted a short thing on the Volpe hit in another thread, but yours describes better, and I was off by a year on the Buffalo and Genovese meeting with Tony Salerno.

I summarized it from what I read in the book Iced: Here is the pertinent part for those who haven't been on the other thread:

So how many crews did Buffalo have in Canada at that time 3?

I think you can make a case their were four: 1. Papalia; 2. Luppino; 3. Musitano; 4. Volpe.

What about the one that is under Detroit?

So started out with 5?

They lost Windsor to Detroit
Anyone know the story with that?


Than Mustiano was aligned with Rizzutto?

He still is an internationally known drug king.

Thanks Hollander... I wondered if you knew anything about him.

Just found this on Gangsters Inc related to BUSICO an Aiello. They say Todaro replaced Aiello as Buffalo's drug importer with John Acticoli--who used Sam Amoia and Gallo. Interesting the Amoia's were involved in the 2008 shooting of Monty Massimi. Also interesting that the Mark Grasanti is related by marriage to the Amoia's--and his step-son was given the weapon. .




Also found this on a forum from a Topix Forum 2007:


Want to do something interesting?

...Search The Buffalo News for the Massimi murder... Search for Vacanti... or just follow this link to a Buffalo News article in the topic: http://www.buffalonews.com/107/story/47233.html

What did you find?

We’re all the related articles scrubbed? ...I wonder why? If you go to the Press Reader App you will find two related articles... but there were a lot more.

Here is a hard to article I got from the Press Reader:



... Vacanti eventually gave up his connected or semi-connected drug trafficking crew... I posted the FBI article about Filippo sentancing below.

There was another Buffalo News article about this which I found on The Real Deal Forum... it said the Massimi murder reminded Buffalo of a mob hit... but wasn’t because Vacanti and Massimi weren’t in the mob. It didn’t mention all the mob connections around the Vacant and Massimi:



Here is the FBI on Fillipo’s sentence: Filippo Pleads Guilty