French Connection
Encyclopedia
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey
to France
and then to the United States
. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States. It was headed by the Corsica
n criminals François Spirito
and Antoine Guérini, and also involved Auguste Ricord
, Paul Mondoloni
and Salvatore Greco, Meyer Lansky
. Most of its starting capital came from Ricord's assets stolen during World War II
when he worked for Henri Lafont
, an agent of the Carlingue
(French Gestapo).
, France
, in 1937. These labs were run by the legendary Corsica
n gang leader Paul Carbone
. For years, the Corsican underworld had been involved in the manufacturing and trafficking of illegal heroin abroad, primarily to the United States
. It was this heroin network that eventually became known as the "French Connection".
The Corsican Gang
was closely allied with the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) and the SDECE after World War II
in order to prevent French communists from bringing the Old Port of Marseille
under their control.
Historically, the raw material for most of the heroin consumed in the United States came from Indochina
, then Turkey
. Turkish farmers were licensed to grow opium poppies
for sale to legal drug companies, but many sold their excess to the underworld market, where it was manufactured into heroin and transported to the United States. The morphine
paste was refined in Corsican laboratories in Marseille, one of the busiest ports in the western Mediterranean Sea
. The Marseille heroin was reputed for its quality.
Marseille served as a perfect shipping
point for all types of illegal goods, including the excess opium that Turkish farmers cultivated for profit. The convenience of the port at Marseille and the frequent arrival of ships from opium-producing countries made it easy to smuggle the morphine base to Marseille from the Far East
or the Near East
. The French underground would then ship large quantities of heroin from Marseille to New York
.
The first significant post-World War II seizure was made in New York on February 5, 1947, when seven pounds (3 kg) of heroin were seized from a Corsican sailor disembarking from a vessel that had just arrived from France.
It soon became clear that the French underground was increasing not only its participation in the illegal trade of opium, but also its expertise and efficiency in heroin trafficking. On March 17, 1947, 28 pounds (13 kg) of heroin were found on the French liner, St. Tropez. On January 7, 1949, more than 50 pounds (22.75 kg) of opium and heroin were seized on the French ship, Batista.
After Paul Carbone's death during the war, the Guérini clan was the ruling dynasty of the Corsican Mafia and had systematically organized the smuggling of opium from Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries. The Guérini clan was led by Marseilles mob boss Antoine Guérini an his brothers (Barthelemy, Francois and Pascal).
that Mauricio Rosal, the Guatemala
n Ambassador
to Belgium
, the Netherlands
and Luxembourg
, was smuggling morphine base from Beirut
, Lebanon to Marseille. Narcotic
s agents had been seizing about 200 pounds (90 kg) of heroin in a typical year, but intelligence showed that the Corsican traffickers were smuggling in 200 pounds (90 kg) every other week. Rosal alone, in one year, had used his diplomatic status to bring in about 440 pounds (200 kg).
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics
's 1960 annual report estimated that from 2,600 to 5,000 pounds (1,200 to 2,300 kg) of heroin were coming into the United States annually from France. The French traffickers continued to exploit the demand for their illegal product, and by 1969, they were supplying the United States with 80 to 90 percent of its heroin.
Because of this increasing volume, heroin became readily available throughout the United States. In an effort to limit the source, U.S. officials went to Turkey to negotiate the phasing out of opium production. Initially, the Turkish government agreed to limit their opium production starting with the 1968 crop.
At the end of the 1960s, after Robert Blemant's assassination by Antoine Guerini, a gangwar sparked in Marseille, caused by competition over casino revenues. Blemant's associate, Marcel Francisci, continued the war over the next years.
, effective June 29, 1971. During these protracted negotiations, law enforcement personnel went into action. One of the major roundups began on January 4, 1972, when agents from the US Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
(BNDD) and French authorities seized 110 pounds (50 kg) of heroin at the Paris
airport. Subsequently, traffickers Jean-Baptiste Croce and Joseph Mari were arrested in Marseille. One such French seizure from the French Connection in 1973, netted 210 pounds (95 kg) of heroin worth $38 million.
In February 1972, French traffickers offered a U.S. Army
sergeant
$96,000 to smuggle 240 pounds (109 kg) of heroin into the United States. He informed his superior who in turn notified the BNDD. As a result of this investigation, five men in New York and two in Paris were arrested with 264 pounds (120 kg) of heroin, which had a street value of $50 million. In a 14-month period, starting in February 1972, six major illicit heroin laboratories were seized and dismantled in the suburbs of Marseille by French national narcotics police in collaboration with U.S. drug agents. On February 29, 1972, French authorities seized the shrimp boat, Caprice des Temps, as it put to sea near Marseille heading towards Miami. It was carrying 915 pounds (415 kg) of heroin. Drug arrests in France skyrocketed from 57 in 1970 to 3,016 in 1972. Also broken up as part of this investigation was the crew of Vincent Papa
, whose members included Anthony Loria Sr.
and Virgil Alessi. The well-organized gang was responsible for distributing close to a million dollars in heroin up and down the East Coast
during the early 1970s, which in turn led to a major New York Police Department (NYPD) corruption scheme. The scope and depth of this scheme are still not known, but officials suspect it involved corrupt NYPD officers, who allowed Papa, Alessi, and Loria access to the NYPD property/evidence storage room at 400 Broome Street, where hundreds of kilograms of heroin lay seized from the now-infamous French Connection bust, the missing heroin replaced with flour and cornstarch.
The substitution was discovered only when officers noticed insects eating all the bags of "heroin". By that point an estimated street value of approximately $70 million worth of "smack" had already been taken. The racket was brought to light and arrests were made. Certain plotters received jail sentences, including Papa. (Papa was later murdered in federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia
; several conflicting reasons why have been suggested).
The French Connection investigation demonstrated that international trafficking networks were best disabled by the combined efforts of drug enforcement agencies from multiple countries. In this case, agents from the United States, Canada
, Italy
and France had worked together to achieve success.
Ultimately, the Guérini clan was exterminated in the French underworld. In 1971, Marcel Francisci was accused by police forces in the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics of being involved in the trafficking of heroin between Marseilles and New York City.
On 16 January 1982, Marcel Francisci was killed in Paris, France. He was shot to death in the parking lot of the building where he lived as he was entering his car.
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and then to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States. It was headed by the Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n criminals François Spirito
François Spirito
François Spirito was a member of the Marseille underworld in France, associated to Paul Carbone. After the Liberation, he fled to Spain and then South America, where he engaged in heroin trade in the so-called French Connection. He was judged in 1952 for Collaborationism and died in...
and Antoine Guérini, and also involved Auguste Ricord
Auguste Ricord
Auguste Ricord, nicknamed Il Commandante, was one of the founding members of the French Connection, a mafiosi-type organisation involved in heroin trade, based in France in the 1950s and 1960s....
, Paul Mondoloni
Paul Mondoloni
Paul Mondoloni, alias Monsieur Paul, was an important figure of the French Connection, who was killed in 1985. He was the associate of Marcel Francisci.- References :* "Le retour de la mafia corse", Le Monde, 22 May 2006...
and Salvatore Greco, Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
. Most of its starting capital came from Ricord's assets stolen during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when he worked for Henri Lafont
Henri Lafont
Henri Lafont, real name Henri Chamberlin was the head of the French Gestapo during the German occupation in World War II.-Sources:*Magazine Historia Hors Série n°26 1972 by Fabrice Laroche...
, an agent of the Carlingue
Carlingue
The French Gestapo or Carlingue was the name given to French auxiliaries of the Gestapo, based at 93, rue Lauriston in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and active between 1941 and 1944...
(French Gestapo).
From the 1930s to the 1950s
Illegal heroin labs were first discovered near MarseilleMarseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in 1937. These labs were run by the legendary Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n gang leader Paul Carbone
Paul Carbone
Paul Carbone was a Corsican criminal involved in the Marseille underworld from the 1920s till his death in 1943...
. For years, the Corsican underworld had been involved in the manufacturing and trafficking of illegal heroin abroad, primarily to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was this heroin network that eventually became known as the "French Connection".
The Corsican Gang
Unione Corse
The Unione Corse is a secretive criminal organization operating primarily out of Corsica and Marseilles in France. Unlike the Sicilian Mafia, it has not attempted to gain a foothold in the United States, and thus does not have the other organization's notoriety...
was closely allied with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) and the SDECE after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in order to prevent French communists from bringing the Old Port of Marseille
Old Port of Marseille
The Old Port of Marseille is located at the end of the Canebière. It has been the natural harbour of Marseille since antiquity.- History :...
under their control.
Historically, the raw material for most of the heroin consumed in the United States came from Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, then Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Turkish farmers were licensed to grow opium poppies
Opium poppy
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine , thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine...
for sale to legal drug companies, but many sold their excess to the underworld market, where it was manufactured into heroin and transported to the United States. The morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
paste was refined in Corsican laboratories in Marseille, one of the busiest ports in the western Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The Marseille heroin was reputed for its quality.
Marseille served as a perfect shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
point for all types of illegal goods, including the excess opium that Turkish farmers cultivated for profit. The convenience of the port at Marseille and the frequent arrival of ships from opium-producing countries made it easy to smuggle the morphine base to Marseille from the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
or the Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
. The French underground would then ship large quantities of heroin from Marseille to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The first significant post-World War II seizure was made in New York on February 5, 1947, when seven pounds (3 kg) of heroin were seized from a Corsican sailor disembarking from a vessel that had just arrived from France.
It soon became clear that the French underground was increasing not only its participation in the illegal trade of opium, but also its expertise and efficiency in heroin trafficking. On March 17, 1947, 28 pounds (13 kg) of heroin were found on the French liner, St. Tropez. On January 7, 1949, more than 50 pounds (22.75 kg) of opium and heroin were seized on the French ship, Batista.
After Paul Carbone's death during the war, the Guérini clan was the ruling dynasty of the Corsican Mafia and had systematically organized the smuggling of opium from Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries. The Guérini clan was led by Marseilles mob boss Antoine Guérini an his brothers (Barthelemy, Francois and Pascal).
The 1960s
The first major French Connection case occurred in 1960. In June, an informant told a drug agent in LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
that Mauricio Rosal, the Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, was smuggling morphine base from Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon to Marseille. Narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s agents had been seizing about 200 pounds (90 kg) of heroin in a typical year, but intelligence showed that the Corsican traffickers were smuggling in 200 pounds (90 kg) every other week. Rosal alone, in one year, had used his diplomatic status to bring in about 440 pounds (200 kg).
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Federal Bureau of Narcotics
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotic Division...
's 1960 annual report estimated that from 2,600 to 5,000 pounds (1,200 to 2,300 kg) of heroin were coming into the United States annually from France. The French traffickers continued to exploit the demand for their illegal product, and by 1969, they were supplying the United States with 80 to 90 percent of its heroin.
Because of this increasing volume, heroin became readily available throughout the United States. In an effort to limit the source, U.S. officials went to Turkey to negotiate the phasing out of opium production. Initially, the Turkish government agreed to limit their opium production starting with the 1968 crop.
At the end of the 1960s, after Robert Blemant's assassination by Antoine Guerini, a gangwar sparked in Marseille, caused by competition over casino revenues. Blemant's associate, Marcel Francisci, continued the war over the next years.
The 1970s and the dismantling of the French Connection
Following five subsequent years of concessions, combined with international cooperation, the Turkish government finally agreed in 1971 to a complete ban on the growing of Turkish opiumOpium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, effective June 29, 1971. During these protracted negotiations, law enforcement personnel went into action. One of the major roundups began on January 4, 1972, when agents from the US Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was a predecessor agency of the Drug Enforcement Administration . It was formed as a subsidiary of the United States Department of Justice in 1968, combining the Bureau of Narcotics and Bureau of Drug Abuse Control The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous...
(BNDD) and French authorities seized 110 pounds (50 kg) of heroin at the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
airport. Subsequently, traffickers Jean-Baptiste Croce and Joseph Mari were arrested in Marseille. One such French seizure from the French Connection in 1973, netted 210 pounds (95 kg) of heroin worth $38 million.
In February 1972, French traffickers offered a U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
$96,000 to smuggle 240 pounds (109 kg) of heroin into the United States. He informed his superior who in turn notified the BNDD. As a result of this investigation, five men in New York and two in Paris were arrested with 264 pounds (120 kg) of heroin, which had a street value of $50 million. In a 14-month period, starting in February 1972, six major illicit heroin laboratories were seized and dismantled in the suburbs of Marseille by French national narcotics police in collaboration with U.S. drug agents. On February 29, 1972, French authorities seized the shrimp boat, Caprice des Temps, as it put to sea near Marseille heading towards Miami. It was carrying 915 pounds (415 kg) of heroin. Drug arrests in France skyrocketed from 57 in 1970 to 3,016 in 1972. Also broken up as part of this investigation was the crew of Vincent Papa
Vincent Papa
Vincent Papa was an Italian-American mobster associated with the Lucchese crime family. He became notorious for masterminding the theft of the French Connection heroin from the New York Police Department property office.-Early years:Born in New York City, Papa grew up in the Astoria neighborhood...
, whose members included Anthony Loria Sr.
Anthony Loria Sr.
Anthony Loria, Sr., also known as "Tony Aboudamita", was a New York mobster who played a major role in the famous French Connection heroin scandal...
and Virgil Alessi. The well-organized gang was responsible for distributing close to a million dollars in heroin up and down the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
during the early 1970s, which in turn led to a major New York Police Department (NYPD) corruption scheme. The scope and depth of this scheme are still not known, but officials suspect it involved corrupt NYPD officers, who allowed Papa, Alessi, and Loria access to the NYPD property/evidence storage room at 400 Broome Street, where hundreds of kilograms of heroin lay seized from the now-infamous French Connection bust, the missing heroin replaced with flour and cornstarch.
The substitution was discovered only when officers noticed insects eating all the bags of "heroin". By that point an estimated street value of approximately $70 million worth of "smack" had already been taken. The racket was brought to light and arrests were made. Certain plotters received jail sentences, including Papa. (Papa was later murdered in federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
; several conflicting reasons why have been suggested).
The French Connection investigation demonstrated that international trafficking networks were best disabled by the combined efforts of drug enforcement agencies from multiple countries. In this case, agents from the United States, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France had worked together to achieve success.
Ultimately, the Guérini clan was exterminated in the French underworld. In 1971, Marcel Francisci was accused by police forces in the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics of being involved in the trafficking of heroin between Marseilles and New York City.
On 16 January 1982, Marcel Francisci was killed in Paris, France. He was shot to death in the parking lot of the building where he lived as he was entering his car.
Unione Corse members
- Paul Carbone, Marseille kingpin
- Francois Spirito, associate of Carbone
- Antoine Guerini, Godfather from Marseille
- Barthélemy "memé" Guérini, Antoine's brother
- Paul Mondoloni
- Marcel FrancisciMarcel FrancisciMarcel Francisci was an alleged member of the Unione Corse who was accused of masterminding the French Connection drug network. As a young man, Francisci fought in World War II and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Following the war, he developed a business empire that included casinos in Britain,...
, associate of Mondoloni
Sicilian Mafia members
- Vito Agueci, gangster from New York
- Albert Agueci, Agueci Brothers
Canadian mobsters
- John Papalia, Hamilton, OntarioHamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, mob boss. - Vic Cotroni, leader of the Cotroni crime family of Montreal
Lucchese crime family members
- Giovanni "Big John" Ormento, a capo involved in large scale narcotic trafficking
- Salvatore Lo Proto, an important member of Big John's narcotic trafficking ring
- Angelo M. Loiacano, wholesaler of Big John Ormento's narcotic trafficking ring
- Vincent PapaVincent PapaVincent Papa was an Italian-American mobster associated with the Lucchese crime family. He became notorious for masterminding the theft of the French Connection heroin from the New York Police Department property office.-Early years:Born in New York City, Papa grew up in the Astoria neighborhood...
, mastermind of "Who Stole the French Connection" - drugs from the NYPD Property Room - Anthony Loria, Sr. partner of Vincent Papa, major heroin dealer
- Angelo "Little Angie" Tuminaro, a soldier, involved in narcotic trafficking
- Pasquale "Patsy" Fuca, nephew to Tuminaro, involved in the narcotic trade
- Anthony DiPasqua, was a narcotic trafficker
Films
- William FriedkinWilliam FriedkinWilliam Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director...
, The French ConnectionThe French Connection (film)This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
(1971) - John FrankenheimerJohn FrankenheimerJohn Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
, French Connection IIFrench Connection IIFrench Connection II is a 1975 crime drama film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer. It is a fictional sequel to the initially true story of the 1971 Academy Award winning picture The French Connection...
(1975)