Havana Conference
Encyclopedia
The Havana Conference of 1946 was an historic meeting of United States
Mafia
and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana
, Cuba
. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano
, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference
of 1929. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout the US crime families for the ensuing decades.
, Luciano was serving a 30-to-50-year prison term for pandering
. In 1942, U.S. military intelligence officers approached Joseph "Socks" Lanza
and Meyer Lansky
with a proposal for Luciano. At that time, Lanza was one of the Mafia bosses who controlled Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market
, its workers, and the docks in Lower Manhattan. Lansky had broader power in cities along the Atlantic Seaboard. Military intelligence was worried about possible Nazi sabotage of docks and other shipping facilities in New York and other East Coast ports. The government told Luciano that if his family was able to protect East Coast ports from sabotage, he would be pardon
ed at the end of the war and deported
to Italy a free man. Luciano agreed to the proposal and assisted the government.
After the war ended, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey agreed to Luciano's pardon on the condition that he never be allowed back into the U.S. In February 1946, after a lavish farewell party on the ocean liner, Luciano sailed back to Italy. He first settled in Lercara Friddi
, Sicily, then moved to Palermo
, Naples
, and Rome. After being forced out of Rome by Italian police, Luciano finally settled in Naples. Luciano immediately started planning a return to the United States.
In early fall 1946, Luciano received a sealed envelope from a recently deported U.S. mafioso, which contained three words, "December-Hotel Nacional." In late September, Luciano obtained two Italian passport
s issued in his real name, Salvatore Lucania, with visas
for Mexico, Cuba, and several South American nations. Luciano was now able to visit the Western Hemisphere and meet with criminal associates from the U.S. In late October, Luciano traveled from Italy to Caracas
, Venezuela
, Mexico City, and finally Havana. Lansky greeted his old friend on his arrival in Cuba. Following Luciano's orders, Lansky had organized a conference in Havana the week of December 22 of crime bosses from all over the United States. Lansky quickly suggested that Luciano purchase a $150,000 interest in the Hotel Nacional, a plush casino and hotel owned by Lansky and his silent partner, Cuban president Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar
. Luciano agreed and the Havana Conference was set.
In December 1946, the Havana Conference started as planned. To welcome Luciano back from exile and acknowledge his continued authority within the mob, all the conference invitees brought Luciano cash envelopes. These "Christmas Presents" totalled more than $200,000. At the first night dinner hosted by Lansky, Frank Costello
, and Joe Adonis
, Luciano was presented with the money. The official cover story for the Havana Conference was that the mobsters were attending a gala party with Frank Sinatra
as the entertainment. Sinatra flew to Havana with Al Capone cousins, Charlie, Rocco and Joseph Fischetti from Chicago. Joseph "Joe Fish" Fischetti, an old Sinatra acquaintance, acted as Sinatra's chaperone and bodyguard. Charlie and Rocco Fischetti delivered a suitcase containing $2 million to Luciano, his share of the U.S. rackets he still controlled.
The most pressing items on the conference agenda were the leadership and authority within the New York mafia, the mob-controlled Havana casino interests, the narcotics operations, and the West Coast operations of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, especially the new Flamingo Hotel and casino in Las Vegas
. Luciano, absent from the American underworld scene for several months, was especially concerned with the situation in New York. Boss Vito Genovese
had returned to New York from exile in Italy and was not content with assuming a minor role in the organization.
Luciano opened the Havana Conference by discussing a topic that would greatly affect his authority within the American Mafia; the position of "capo di tutti capi
" or "boss of all bosses". The last official boss of all bosses had been Salvatore Maranzano
, who was murdered in September 1931. By the end of 1931, Luciano had eliminated this top position and re-organized the Italian mafia into "La Cosa Nostra", or "This Thing of Ours". A board of directors, commonly called the "Commission", had been formed to oversee criminal activities, control rules, and set policies. La Cosa Nostra thus became the top criminal organization within the National Crime Syndicate
.
Now Luciano could easily have declared himself as Maranzano's heir in 1932; instead, Luciano decided to exercise control behind the scenes. This arrangement had worked until Vito Genovese's return from Italy. Officially, Genovese was now just a caporegime; however, he had made it clear that he intended to take control of the Luciano crime family. Since Luciano's deportation in 1946, Luciano ally, Frank Costello
had been the acting boss of the Luciano family. As a result, tensions between the Costello and Genovese factions had started to fester. Luciano had no intention of stepping down as family boss; he had to do something about Genovese. Luciano also realized that Genovese threatened his overall authority and influence within the American mafia, probably with support from other crime bosses. Therefore, Luciano decided to resurrect the boss of all bosses position and claim it for himself. He hoped the other bosses would support him, either by officially affirming the title or at least by acknowledging that he was still "First Amongst Equals".
At the conference, Luciano allegedly presented the motion to retain his position as the top boss in La Cosa Nostra. Then Luciano ally, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia
seconded the motion. Anastasia voted with Luciano because he felt threatened by Genovese's attempts to muscle in on his waterfront rackets. Checkmated by the Luciano-Costello-Anastasia alliance, Genovese was forced to swallow his ambitions and plan for the future. To further embarrass Genovese, Luciano encouraged Anastasia and Genovese to settle their differences and shake hands in front of the other bosses. This symbolic gesture was meant to prevent another bloody gang war such as the Castellammarese War
of 1930-1931. With Luciano solidifying his personal position and squashing Genovese's ambition for now, Luciano brought up discussion of the mob's narcotics operations in the United States.
and the mob's operations in the United States. A longstanding myth has been the supposed refusal of Luciano and the Cosa Nostra to deal in narcotics. In reality, only a few bosses such as Frank Costello
and the other bosses who controlled lucrative gambling empires opposed narcotics. The anti-drug faction believed that the Cosa Nostra did not need narcotics profits, that narcotics brought unwanted law enforcement and media attention, and that the general public considered it to be a very harmful activity (unlike gambling). The pro-drug faction said that narcotics were far more profitable than any other illegal activity. Furthermore, if the Cosa Nostra ignored the drug trade, other criminal organizations would jump in and eventually diminish the Cosa Nostra's power and influence.
Luciano himself had a long involvement in the drug trade, starting as a smalltime street dealer in the late 1910s. In 1928, after the murder of Arnold "The Big Bankroll" Rothstein
, Luciano and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
took over Rothstein's large drug importation operation. Since the 1920s, La Cosa Nostra had been involved in drug importation (heroin, cocaine
, and marijuana
) into North America. In the 1930s, the organization started transporting narcotics from the East Asia
Golden Triangle
and South America to Cuba and into Florida. The American Mafia's longtime association with the government of Cuba concerning gambling interests such as casinos along with their legitimate business investments on the Caribbean island put them in a position to use their political and underworld connections to make Cuba one of their narcotics importation layovers or smuggling points where the drugs could be stored and then placed on sea vessels before they continued on to Canada and United States via Montreal
and Florida among the ports used by Luciano's associates.
With Luciano's deportation to Italy, he now had the opportunity to import heroin from North Africa via Italy and Cuba into the US and Canada. Luciano made connections with Sicily's biggest bosses such as Don Calogero "Calo" Vizzini
of Villalba who assisted the Allies' invasion of Sicily and had the greatest political connections of all the Sicilian bosses. Also, Don Pasquale Ania, a powerful boss in Palermo who had connections to legitimate pharmaceutical companies because large scale heroin manufacturing in Italy was legal at the time.
During the Havana Conference, Luciano detailed the proposed drugs network to the bosses. After arriving in Cuba from North Africa, the mob would ship the narcotics to US ports that it controlled, primarily New York City, New Orleans, and Tampa. The narcotics shipped to the New York docks would be overseen by the Luciano crime family (later the Genovese) and the Mangano crime family (later the Gambino). In New Orleans, the operation would be overseen by the Marcello crime family
, led by Carlos "Little Man" Marcello
. In Tampa, the narcotics shipments would be overseen by the Trafficante crime family
led by Santo Trafficante, Jr.
. The Havana Convention delegates voted to approve the plan.
Luciano built a massive drug organization spanning Italy and America. One of Luciano's narcotics Lieutenants in Siculiana
, Sicily
was his old associate from New York, Nicola "Zu Cola" Gentile
who oversaw all drug operations in the Agrigento
province for Lucky Luciano and his partner Don Giuseppe Settecasi, the Capo-provincal of Agrigento
. A top Luciano Lieutenant in the "Caneba Network" of mainland Italy was Antonio Farina who would ship the narcotics to their U.S. partners in New York's Mangano crime family including Albert Anastasia, Frank "Don Cheech" Scalise, Jack Scarpulla, Peter Beddia and Matthew "Matty" Cuomo.
Long time Luciano ally Frank "Fingers" Coppola
ran the Sicilian "Partinico Clan". This was a satellite group affiliated with the Detroit Partnership
or Zerilli crime family led by boss Joseph "Joe Z." Zerilli
and fellow bosses and Detroit allies, John "Papa John" Priziola, Angelo Meli
, and Rafaelle Quasarano. The Detroit crime family then shipped the narcotics to their New York contacts, Giovanni "Big John" Ormento, of the Lucchese crime family
, Carmine "Lilo" Galante
and Natale "Joe Diamonds" Evola
of the Bonanno crime family
, Frank "Cheech" Livorsi of the Luciano crime family, and Joseph "Joe Bandy" Biondo
of the Mangano crime family. These East Coast contacts would then distribute the drugs all along the East Coast.
Other Luciano lieutenants working mainland Italy included American deportees, Frank Barone and Giuseppe Arena in Rome, Frank Pirico, Frank Saverino and Giovanni Maugeri in Milan
, Salvatore DiBella in Naples
, and former Mangano crime family soldier, Joseph "Joe Peachy" Pici in Milan
and Genoa
. Others U.S. distribution groups that worked with Luciano and his allies were "The Bellanca Gang", brothers, Antonio, Joseph and Sebastiano "Benny Blanca" Bellanca and Gaetano "Tommy" Martino
of the Mangano crime family. Then there was the group of Settimo "Big Sam" Accardi
, Joseph "Hoboken Joe" Stassi and his brothers, Frank and Anthony Stassi, Anthony Granza, Vincent Ferrara and Louis Cirillo who worked for Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia
and Carlo "Carl" Gambino
. Even with all the growing animosity Lucky Luciano couldn't leave out his old associate, Vito "Don Vito" Genovese
who had his group of distributors including Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo
, Vincent "Vinnie Bruno" Mauro
, Frank "The Bug" Caruso, Salvatore "Sam" Maneri, Vincent "Chin" Gigante
and even Joseph "Joe Cago" Valachi who were all associated with the "Papalia-Agueci Network" of the Magaddino crime family of Buffalo
and led by members, John "Johnny Pops" Papalia and Alberto Agueci of Hamilton
and Toronto, Ontario
.
At first the Mafia's operation was one of many individual operations connected or affiliated to the French-Corsican Mob or Unione Corse
's famous "French Connection" heroin distribution ring. By the late 1950s the Sicilians and Americans organized a joint U.S. and Sicilian La Cosa Nostra narcotics operation that would eventually grow into one of the largest global narcotics operation ever. This famous joint U.S.-Sicilian operation came to be known as the "Pizza Connection
" and was cemented between the two mafia organizations at the famous mafia summit held at the Grand Hotel des Palmes in Palermo, Sicily in October, 1957.
Salvatore and Ugo Caneba assisted Luciano and were the overseers of the famous heroin operation they controlled from mainland Italy to the United States, the "Caneba Network" which supplied high grade pharmaceutical quality heroin. Luciano's narcotics network was big and complex and he had many of his old, deported former U.S. allies to help him run his empire throughout the late 1940s. The main drug imported by Luciano's network at the time was heroin and the main sources were French underworld "Clans" that made up the core of the Unione Corse Syndicate, or French Mob. The "Corsican Clan" was headed by powerful bosses Antoine D'Agostino, Jean Baptiste Croce and Paul Mondolini, while the "Marseilles Clan" was made up of 4 Groups. These 4 powerful groups included brothers, Antoine and Barthelemy "Meme" Guerini, brothers, Dominique and Jean Venturi, brothers, Marcel, Xavier and Jean Francisci, and Joseph Orsini. Auguste Joseph Ricord was another boss that became part of the Unione Corse in the 1960s-70s. These two "Clans" ruled the French underworld from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, supplying Luciano and his mafia allies with large amounts of heroin until the heroin ring known as the "French Connection
" started to crumble in 1972 with the arrest of one of its biggest bosses, Auguste Joseph Ricord.
The Luciano narcotics empire continued to grow and prosper with the help of his U.S. associates. Many of Luciano's partners in the narcotics empire were "Havana Conference" delegates such as Joseph "The Old Man" Profaci who was once the biggest importer of olive oil and tomato paste in the United States and quietly used his food importation business to smuggle narcotics for decades, Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese
, a longtime Luciano ally from their days as children in the streets of New York and who along with his Lucchese crime family
's narcotics distribution arm, the 107th St. Crew which controlled all heroin distribution in Harlem, New York. Without a doubt one of the architects of the American heroin network and a partner of Luciano is well known and powerful New York mafia boss, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
, the patriarch of the Bonanno crime family
, who along with the assistance of his cousin, Buffalo crime family
boss, Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino
led the American mafia's expansion into Canada. Bonanno's and Magaddino's crime families in New York and Buffalo opened up Montreal and Toronto in the 1950s as satellite groups or individual operations connected with the famous "French Connection", but eventually the satellite groups would grow into their own powerful crime families and control massive narcotics distribution networks that still operate even today, all of the narcotics networks mentioned help destroy the myth that Charlie Luciano and La Cosa Nostra were against narcotics. When Cuban President Fulgencio Batista
y Zaldivar was eventually overthrown by Fidel Castro
in 1959, the mob had to look elsewhere for a landing and storage facility for their narcotics shipments.
, and supervise narcotics shipments from Mexico
. In a short while, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel had become a very popular and visible figure in Hollywood's most glamorous circles.
The Flamingo Hotel was the creation of Billy Wilkerson
, a Hollywood nightclub owner and one of the founders of "The Hollywood Reporter". By the mid-1940s, it was an unfinished dream deferred. This Flamingo Hotel
project became Siegel's obsession. Siegel persuaded his longtime friend and business associate Meyer Lansky
to help him sell New York and Chicago crime bosses on investing in this project. Siegel promised the bosses that the hotel and casino would be a smart and profitable investment.
However, the Flamingo project immediately ran into problems. Siegel appointed his girlfriend Virginia Hill
as a project overseer. As a result, contractors were stealing Siegel blind; they would sell him materials one day, then steal them from the building site at night, then resell them to Siegel the next day. The Flamingo project was also impacted by the rising cost of materials and labor from the post World War II
building boom. The bottom line was that a project projected to cost $1.5 million would eventually reach $6 million.
To make matters worse, the bosses suspected Siegel and Hill of stealing project money. Lansky and the bosses had discovered that Hill was taking frequent trips to Zürich
, Switzerland and depositing money in a bank account. They suspected that Siegel was skimming
money and might flee the country if the Flamingo failed.
Following a discussion, the delegates voted to execute Siegel. The delegates assigned Chicago Outfit consigliere, Charles "Trigger Happy" Fischetti
to oversee the contract. The actual hit would be given to Jack Dragna
, the Los Angeles crime family
boss and close to Siegel. Dragna, who despised Siegel, then gave the contract to Mob hitman, John "Frankie" Carbo
, a Lucchese crime family
soldier.
However, at the last moment, Siegel got a reprieve. The partly completed Flamingo was scheduled to open December 26. Longtime Siegel friend Lansky convinced the delegates to see how the hotel did in its opening. The delegates agreed and then took a break for Christmas Day. The delegates soon learned that the Flamingo opening night was a flop. The enraged mobsters demanded Siegel's head on a platter. However, Lansky again convinced them to wait. He argued that Siegel could still save the casino and make money.
After two weeks, the Flamingo closed to resume construction. The completed hotel opened a few months later. The Flamingo started making a small profit, but the Mafia investors had finally lost patience with Siegel. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was home alone at Hill's mansion in Los Angeles
reading a newspaper by a living room window. A gunman with an army carbine rose up from the bushes and fired four shots into the room. Siegel was hit twice in the head and twice in the torso and died instantly.
Meeting with Luciano in his room at the Hotel Nacional, Genovese told him that the U.S. government knew that Luciano was in Cuba and was pressuring the Cuban Government to expel him. Since Luciano was going to have to return to Italy, he should turn over leadership of the Luciano Family to Genovese and retire.
Positive that Genovese had tipped off the US government to his presence in Cuba, Luciano finally snapped. He proceeded to beat Genovese and eventually broke three of his ribs; it was three days before Vito could travel again. When Genovese felt better, Luciano and Anastasia then put Genovese on a plane to the States. Luciano also threatened to kill Genovese if he ever mentioned this incident to anyone.
In February 1947, the New York City papers got wind of the fact that Luciano was in Cuba. U.S. drug agent Harry Anslinger (called that S.O.B Asslinger by Luciano) demanded that Cuba deport Luciano to Italy. Anslinger claimed that Luciano was behind the recent surge of heroin into the United States. When Cuba refused to comply, Anslinger took his case to President Harry S. Truman
. The U.S. government then halted all shipments of medical supplies to Cuba while Luciano was still on the island. Luciano, Lansky, and President Batista tried to strike back by halting all Cuban sugar exports to the US, but it had no effect on Washington. Later in February, the Cubans caved in; they arrested Luciano and sent him back to Italy. When his plane landed there, the Italians arrested Luciano, but released him soon after.
Lucky Luciano died on January 26, 1962, of a heart attack at the Naples, Italy airport while picking up movie producer Martin Gosch.
Martin Gosch had helped Luciano write an autobiographical screenplay, but the Mafia Commission wouldn't allow the film to be made. Gosch along with Richard Hammer used the screenplay to write the book, "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" in 1975.
Luciano's longtime associate and eventual nemesis, Vito Genovese, died a natural death in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in 1969. Ironically, Luciano and Genovese ended up being buried 100 feet from each other in the same cemetery in New York.
, Cuba
.
, "boss of bosses" just like his former boss and mentor Salvatore Maranzano
. This information of Joseph Bonanno's treachery was picked up by former F.B.I. agent William Roemer, who was given the information by several of his former F.B.I. colleagues. Bill Roemer details this on pages 132-42 in his 1990 book, War of the Godfathers.
has an homage
to the Havana Conference when Michael Corleone
travels to Havana to have a meeting with several other mob bosses.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference
Atlantic City Conference
The Atlantic City Conference held in 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US...
of 1929. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout the US crime families for the ensuing decades.
Background
The reported organizer of the Havana Conference was crime boss Lucky Luciano. At the beginning of World War IIWorld 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...
, Luciano was serving a 30-to-50-year prison term for pandering
Procuring (prostitution)
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. Examples of procuring include:*trafficking a prostitute into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex...
. In 1942, U.S. military intelligence officers approached Joseph "Socks" Lanza
Joseph Lanza
Joseph A. "Socks" Lanza was a New York labor racketeer and a member of the Genovese crime family.Born in Palermo, Sicily, Lanza immigrated to the United States and settled in New York working as a handler in Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market...
and 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...
with a proposal for Luciano. At that time, Lanza was one of the Mafia bosses who controlled Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market
Fulton Fish Market
The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce...
, its workers, and the docks in Lower Manhattan. Lansky had broader power in cities along the Atlantic Seaboard. Military intelligence was worried about possible Nazi sabotage of docks and other shipping facilities in New York and other East Coast ports. The government told Luciano that if his family was able to protect East Coast ports from sabotage, he would be pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
ed at the end of the war and deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to Italy a free man. Luciano agreed to the proposal and assisted the government.
After the war ended, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey agreed to Luciano's pardon on the condition that he never be allowed back into the U.S. In February 1946, after a lavish farewell party on the ocean liner, Luciano sailed back to Italy. He first settled in Lercara Friddi
Lercara Friddi
Lercara Friddi is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 45 km southeast of Palermo....
, Sicily, then moved to Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, and Rome. After being forced out of Rome by Italian police, Luciano finally settled in Naples. Luciano immediately started planning a return to the United States.
In early fall 1946, Luciano received a sealed envelope from a recently deported U.S. mafioso, which contained three words, "December-Hotel Nacional." In late September, Luciano obtained two Italian passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s issued in his real name, Salvatore Lucania, with visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
for Mexico, Cuba, and several South American nations. Luciano was now able to visit the Western Hemisphere and meet with criminal associates from the U.S. In late October, Luciano traveled from Italy to Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Mexico City, and finally Havana. Lansky greeted his old friend on his arrival in Cuba. Following Luciano's orders, Lansky had organized a conference in Havana the week of December 22 of crime bosses from all over the United States. Lansky quickly suggested that Luciano purchase a $150,000 interest in the Hotel Nacional, a plush casino and hotel owned by Lansky and his silent partner, Cuban president Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
. Luciano agreed and the Havana Conference was set.
In December 1946, the Havana Conference started as planned. To welcome Luciano back from exile and acknowledge his continued authority within the mob, all the conference invitees brought Luciano cash envelopes. These "Christmas Presents" totalled more than $200,000. At the first night dinner hosted by Lansky, Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
, and Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis , also known as "Joey A", "Joe Adone", "Joe Arosa", "James Arosa", and "Joe DiMeo", was a New York mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families.-Early years:Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano,...
, Luciano was presented with the money. The official cover story for the Havana Conference was that the mobsters were attending a gala party with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as the entertainment. Sinatra flew to Havana with Al Capone cousins, Charlie, Rocco and Joseph Fischetti from Chicago. Joseph "Joe Fish" Fischetti, an old Sinatra acquaintance, acted as Sinatra's chaperone and bodyguard. Charlie and Rocco Fischetti delivered a suitcase containing $2 million to Luciano, his share of the U.S. rackets he still controlled.
The most pressing items on the conference agenda were the leadership and authority within the New York mafia, the mob-controlled Havana casino interests, the narcotics operations, and the West Coast operations of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, especially the new Flamingo Hotel and casino in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Luciano, absent from the American underworld scene for several months, was especially concerned with the situation in New York. Boss Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese
Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
had returned to New York from exile in Italy and was not content with assuming a minor role in the organization.
The Conference begins
The Havana Conference convened on December 22, 1946. Delegates were present representing New York City, New Jersey, Buffalo, Chicago, New Orleans and Florida, with the largest delegation of bosses from the New York-New Jersey area. Several major bosses from the Jewish Syndicate were at the conference to discuss joint La Cosa Nostra-Jewish Syndicate business. According to conference rules, the Jewish delegates could not vote on Cosa Nostra rules or policies; however, the Jewish crime bosses were allowed input on any joint business ventures, such as the Flamingo Hotel.Luciano opened the Havana Conference by discussing a topic that would greatly affect his authority within the American Mafia; the position of "capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi or capo dei capi is Italian for "boss of all bosses" or "boss of bosses". It is a phrase used mainly by the media, public and the law enforcement community to indicate a supremely powerful crime boss in the Sicilian or American Mafia who holds great influence over the whole...
" or "boss of all bosses". The last official boss of all bosses had been Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
, who was murdered in September 1931. By the end of 1931, Luciano had eliminated this top position and re-organized the Italian mafia into "La Cosa Nostra", or "This Thing of Ours". A board of directors, commonly called the "Commission", had been formed to oversee criminal activities, control rules, and set policies. La Cosa Nostra thus became the top criminal organization within the National Crime Syndicate
National Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to a loosely-organized multi-ethnic organized crime syndicate. Its origins are uncertain....
.
Now Luciano could easily have declared himself as Maranzano's heir in 1932; instead, Luciano decided to exercise control behind the scenes. This arrangement had worked until Vito Genovese's return from Italy. Officially, Genovese was now just a caporegime; however, he had made it clear that he intended to take control of the Luciano crime family. Since Luciano's deportation in 1946, Luciano ally, Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
had been the acting boss of the Luciano family. As a result, tensions between the Costello and Genovese factions had started to fester. Luciano had no intention of stepping down as family boss; he had to do something about Genovese. Luciano also realized that Genovese threatened his overall authority and influence within the American mafia, probably with support from other crime bosses. Therefore, Luciano decided to resurrect the boss of all bosses position and claim it for himself. He hoped the other bosses would support him, either by officially affirming the title or at least by acknowledging that he was still "First Amongst Equals".
At the conference, Luciano allegedly presented the motion to retain his position as the top boss in La Cosa Nostra. Then Luciano ally, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
seconded the motion. Anastasia voted with Luciano because he felt threatened by Genovese's attempts to muscle in on his waterfront rackets. Checkmated by the Luciano-Costello-Anastasia alliance, Genovese was forced to swallow his ambitions and plan for the future. To further embarrass Genovese, Luciano encouraged Anastasia and Genovese to settle their differences and shake hands in front of the other bosses. This symbolic gesture was meant to prevent another bloody gang war such as the Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
of 1930-1931. With Luciano solidifying his personal position and squashing Genovese's ambition for now, Luciano brought up discussion of the mob's narcotics operations in the United States.
Narcotics trade
One of the key topics at the Havana Convention was the global narcotics tradeIllegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and the mob's operations in the United States. A longstanding myth has been the supposed refusal of Luciano and the Cosa Nostra to deal in narcotics. In reality, only a few bosses such as Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
and the other bosses who controlled lucrative gambling empires opposed narcotics. The anti-drug faction believed that the Cosa Nostra did not need narcotics profits, that narcotics brought unwanted law enforcement and media attention, and that the general public considered it to be a very harmful activity (unlike gambling). The pro-drug faction said that narcotics were far more profitable than any other illegal activity. Furthermore, if the Cosa Nostra ignored the drug trade, other criminal organizations would jump in and eventually diminish the Cosa Nostra's power and influence.
Luciano himself had a long involvement in the drug trade, starting as a smalltime street dealer in the late 1910s. In 1928, after the murder of Arnold "The Big Bankroll" Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
, Luciano and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter
Louis Buchalter
Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
took over Rothstein's large drug importation operation. Since the 1920s, La Cosa Nostra had been involved in drug importation (heroin, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
) into North America. In the 1930s, the organization started transporting narcotics from the East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)
The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most...
and South America to Cuba and into Florida. The American Mafia's longtime association with the government of Cuba concerning gambling interests such as casinos along with their legitimate business investments on the Caribbean island put them in a position to use their political and underworld connections to make Cuba one of their narcotics importation layovers or smuggling points where the drugs could be stored and then placed on sea vessels before they continued on to Canada and United States via Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Florida among the ports used by Luciano's associates.
With Luciano's deportation to Italy, he now had the opportunity to import heroin from North Africa via Italy and Cuba into the US and Canada. Luciano made connections with Sicily's biggest bosses such as Don Calogero "Calo" Vizzini
Calogero Vizzini
Calogero Don Calò Vizzini was a historical Mafia boss of Villalba in the Province of Caltanissetta, Sicily. Vizzini was considered to be one of the most influential and legendary Mafia bosses of Sicily after World War II until his death in 1954...
of Villalba who assisted the Allies' invasion of Sicily and had the greatest political connections of all the Sicilian bosses. Also, Don Pasquale Ania, a powerful boss in Palermo who had connections to legitimate pharmaceutical companies because large scale heroin manufacturing in Italy was legal at the time.
During the Havana Conference, Luciano detailed the proposed drugs network to the bosses. After arriving in Cuba from North Africa, the mob would ship the narcotics to US ports that it controlled, primarily New York City, New Orleans, and Tampa. The narcotics shipped to the New York docks would be overseen by the Luciano crime family (later the Genovese) and the Mangano crime family (later the Gambino). In New Orleans, the operation would be overseen by the Marcello crime family
New Orleans crime family
The New Orleans crime family is one of the oldest American criminal organizations in activity. It is based in New Orleans and parts of southern Louisiana in the United States. Its status today is unknown, as it remained in the shadows since 1993...
, led by Carlos "Little Man" Marcello
Carlos Marcello
Carlos "The Little Man" Marcello was a Sicilian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.-Early life:...
. In Tampa, the narcotics shipments would be overseen by the Trafficante crime family
Trafficante crime family
The Trafficante crime family better known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida.-Tampa's underworld:...
led by Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
. The Havana Convention delegates voted to approve the plan.
Luciano built a massive drug organization spanning Italy and America. One of Luciano's narcotics Lieutenants in Siculiana
Siculiana
Siculiana is a town and comune in the province of Agrigento, Sicily, southern Italy, 13 km. west from the provincial capital Agrigento.-History:...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
was his old associate from New York, Nicola "Zu Cola" Gentile
Nicola Gentile
Nicola Gentile , also known as Nick Gentile, was a Sicilian mafioso and an organized crime figure in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s. He was also known for publishing his memoirs which, violating the mafiosi code known as omerta, revealed many details of the Sicilian and American underworld...
who oversaw all drug operations in the Agrigento
Agrigento
Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...
province for Lucky Luciano and his partner Don Giuseppe Settecasi, the Capo-provincal of Agrigento
Agrigento
Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...
. A top Luciano Lieutenant in the "Caneba Network" of mainland Italy was Antonio Farina who would ship the narcotics to their U.S. partners in New York's Mangano crime family including Albert Anastasia, Frank "Don Cheech" Scalise, Jack Scarpulla, Peter Beddia and Matthew "Matty" Cuomo.
Long time Luciano ally Frank "Fingers" Coppola
Frank Coppola
Frank Coppola may refer to:*Frank James Coppola , American former police officer who was executed for murder*Francis Ford Coppola, American film director...
ran the Sicilian "Partinico Clan". This was a satellite group affiliated with the Detroit Partnership
Detroit Partnership
The Detroit Partnership, also known as the Detroit crime family, Detroit Combination, Detroit Mafia, Detroit Outfit or Zerilli crime family is an American Mafia crime family based in Detroit, Michigan...
or Zerilli crime family led by boss Joseph "Joe Z." Zerilli
Joseph Zerilli
Joseph Zerilli was a Prohibition-era Detroit gangster who led the crime family known as the Detroit Partnership from the 1930s through the 1970s.-Early life:...
and fellow bosses and Detroit allies, John "Papa John" Priziola, Angelo Meli
Angelo Meli
Angelo Meli was a Detroit, Michigan mobster who became a consiglieri and then leading Chairman of the Detroit Partnership criminal organization of La Cosa Nostra.-Criminal career:...
, and Rafaelle Quasarano. The Detroit crime family then shipped the narcotics to their New York contacts, Giovanni "Big John" Ormento, of the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
, Carmine "Lilo" Galante
Carmine Galante
Carmine Galante, also known as "Lilo" and "Cigar" was a mobster and acting boss of the Bonanno crime family...
and Natale "Joe Diamonds" Evola
Natale Evola
Natale "Joe Diamond" Evola was a New York mobster who briefly became boss of the Bonanno crime family.Born in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn to parents Filippo and Francesca, who was natives of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He was the brother of Paul, Joseph and Anna...
of the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
, Frank "Cheech" Livorsi of the Luciano crime family, and Joseph "Joe Bandy" Biondo
Joseph Biondo
Joseph Biondo , also known as "Joe Bandy", "Joe the Blonde", and "Little Rabbit", was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was heavily involved in gambling activities. Biondo was also the family underboss for approximately eight years.-Career:Born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in...
of the Mangano crime family. These East Coast contacts would then distribute the drugs all along the East Coast.
Other Luciano lieutenants working mainland Italy included American deportees, Frank Barone and Giuseppe Arena in Rome, Frank Pirico, Frank Saverino and Giovanni Maugeri in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Salvatore DiBella in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, and former Mangano crime family soldier, Joseph "Joe Peachy" Pici in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. Others U.S. distribution groups that worked with Luciano and his allies were "The Bellanca Gang", brothers, Antonio, Joseph and Sebastiano "Benny Blanca" Bellanca and Gaetano "Tommy" Martino
Gaetano Martino
Gaetano Martino was an Italian politician and university teacher.A native of Messina, Sicily, he was a member of Italian Liberal Party. Gaetano Martino was one of the participants of the Messina Conference in 1955, which would lead to the Treaty of Rome in 1957...
of the Mangano crime family. Then there was the group of Settimo "Big Sam" Accardi
Settimo Accardi
Settimo "Big Sam" Accardi was a New Jersey mobster who served as capo in the Lucchese crime family's Jersey crew...
, Joseph "Hoboken Joe" Stassi and his brothers, Frank and Anthony Stassi, Anthony Granza, Vincent Ferrara and Louis Cirillo who worked for Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
and Carlo "Carl" Gambino
Carlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
. Even with all the growing animosity Lucky Luciano couldn't leave out his old associate, Vito "Don Vito" Genovese
Vito Genovese
Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
who had his group of distributors including Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo
Anthony Strollo
Anthony C. Strollo , aka "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family.-Early years:...
, Vincent "Vinnie Bruno" Mauro
Vincent Mauro
Vincent Mauro is a retired American referee. He is best known for having refereed one match in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.-References:*...
, Frank "The Bug" Caruso, Salvatore "Sam" Maneri, Vincent "Chin" Gigante
Vincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
and even Joseph "Joe Cago" Valachi who were all associated with the "Papalia-Agueci Network" of the Magaddino crime family of Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
and led by members, John "Johnny Pops" Papalia and Alberto Agueci of Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton 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...
and Toronto, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
At first the Mafia's operation was one of many individual operations connected or affiliated to the French-Corsican Mob or Unione Corse
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...
's famous "French Connection" heroin distribution ring. By the late 1950s the Sicilians and Americans organized a joint U.S. and Sicilian La Cosa Nostra narcotics operation that would eventually grow into one of the largest global narcotics operation ever. This famous joint U.S.-Sicilian operation came to be known as the "Pizza Connection
Pizza Connection Trial
The Pizza Connection Trial was one of the longest criminal jury trials on record in the district of Manhattan. It took place between October 24, 1985 and March 2, 1987-Scope of the trial:...
" and was cemented between the two mafia organizations at the famous mafia summit held at the Grand Hotel des Palmes in Palermo, Sicily in October, 1957.
Salvatore and Ugo Caneba assisted Luciano and were the overseers of the famous heroin operation they controlled from mainland Italy to the United States, the "Caneba Network" which supplied high grade pharmaceutical quality heroin. Luciano's narcotics network was big and complex and he had many of his old, deported former U.S. allies to help him run his empire throughout the late 1940s. The main drug imported by Luciano's network at the time was heroin and the main sources were French underworld "Clans" that made up the core of the Unione Corse Syndicate, or French Mob. The "Corsican Clan" was headed by powerful bosses Antoine D'Agostino, Jean Baptiste Croce and Paul Mondolini, while the "Marseilles Clan" was made up of 4 Groups. These 4 powerful groups included brothers, Antoine and Barthelemy "Meme" Guerini, brothers, Dominique and Jean Venturi, brothers, Marcel, Xavier and Jean Francisci, and Joseph Orsini. Auguste Joseph Ricord was another boss that became part of the Unione Corse in the 1960s-70s. These two "Clans" ruled the French underworld from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, supplying Luciano and his mafia allies with large amounts of heroin until the heroin ring known as the "French Connection
French Connection
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...
" started to crumble in 1972 with the arrest of one of its biggest bosses, Auguste Joseph Ricord.
The Luciano narcotics empire continued to grow and prosper with the help of his U.S. associates. Many of Luciano's partners in the narcotics empire were "Havana Conference" delegates such as Joseph "The Old Man" Profaci who was once the biggest importer of olive oil and tomato paste in the United States and quietly used his food importation business to smuggle narcotics for decades, Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese
Tommy Lucchese
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
, a longtime Luciano ally from their days as children in the streets of New York and who along with his Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
's narcotics distribution arm, the 107th St. Crew which controlled all heroin distribution in Harlem, New York. Without a doubt one of the architects of the American heroin network and a partner of Luciano is well known and powerful New York mafia boss, Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
, the patriarch of the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
, who along with the assistance of his cousin, Buffalo crime family
Buffalo crime family
The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family and The Arm, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Buffalo, United States. As part of the American Mafia the family operates throughout Western New York and Canada.The Buffalo crime family, gained power during the...
boss, Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino was an Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio and Southern Ontario as far north as Montreal, Quebec...
led the American mafia's expansion into Canada. Bonanno's and Magaddino's crime families in New York and Buffalo opened up Montreal and Toronto in the 1950s as satellite groups or individual operations connected with the famous "French Connection", but eventually the satellite groups would grow into their own powerful crime families and control massive narcotics distribution networks that still operate even today, all of the narcotics networks mentioned help destroy the myth that Charlie Luciano and La Cosa Nostra were against narcotics. When Cuban President Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
y Zaldivar was eventually overthrown by Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
in 1959, the mob had to look elsewhere for a landing and storage facility for their narcotics shipments.
The Siegel Situation
The next item on the agenda at the Havana Conference was what Lansky called the "Siegel Situation". In the mid 1930s, the New York and Chicago crime families had been sent out west to set up and oversee a race wire service, gambling activities in Los Angeles and NevadaNevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and supervise narcotics shipments from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In a short while, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel had become a very popular and visible figure in Hollywood's most glamorous circles.
The Flamingo Hotel was the creation of Billy Wilkerson
William Wilkerson
William Richard Wilkerson was the founder of the Hollywood Reporter, Flamingo Hotel and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. He was also responsible for discovering actress Lana Turner across the street from Hollywood High School.-Early life:Born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 29, 1890...
, a Hollywood nightclub owner and one of the founders of "The Hollywood Reporter". By the mid-1940s, it was an unfinished dream deferred. This Flamingo Hotel
Flamingo Las Vegas
The Flamingo Las Vegas is a hotel casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The property offers a casino along with 3,626 hotel rooms...
project became Siegel's obsession. Siegel persuaded his longtime friend and business associate 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...
to help him sell New York and Chicago crime bosses on investing in this project. Siegel promised the bosses that the hotel and casino would be a smart and profitable investment.
However, the Flamingo project immediately ran into problems. Siegel appointed his girlfriend Virginia Hill
Virginia Hill
Virginia Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the girlfriend of Genovese crime family mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.- The Kefauver hearings :...
as a project overseer. As a result, contractors were stealing Siegel blind; they would sell him materials one day, then steal them from the building site at night, then resell them to Siegel the next day. The Flamingo project was also impacted by the rising cost of materials and labor from the post 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...
building boom. The bottom line was that a project projected to cost $1.5 million would eventually reach $6 million.
To make matters worse, the bosses suspected Siegel and Hill of stealing project money. Lansky and the bosses had discovered that Hill was taking frequent trips to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland and depositing money in a bank account. They suspected that Siegel was skimming
Skimming (fraud)
A form of white-collar crime, skimming is a slang termhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skim that refers to taking cash "off the top" of the daily receipts of a business and officially reporting a lower total.- Examples :* A skimming crime may be simple tax evasion: the owner of a business...
money and might flee the country if the Flamingo failed.
Following a discussion, the delegates voted to execute Siegel. The delegates assigned Chicago Outfit consigliere, Charles "Trigger Happy" Fischetti
Charles Fischetti
Charles "Trigger Happy" Fischetti was a Chicago mobster, former Capone bodyguard and Mafia leader.Fischetti was called a notorious Chicago gangster in the FBI files. He was the mob's political fixer in Chicago. He was also Al Capone's cousin and his reputed consigliere. Fischetti and his brother...
to oversee the contract. The actual hit would be given to Jack Dragna
Jack Dragna
Jack Ignatius Dragna was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 1900s. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States...
, the Los Angeles crime family
Los Angeles crime family
The Los Angeles crime family is an Italian American criminal organization based in Los Angeles, as part of the American Mafia . Since its inception in the early 1900s, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the L.A. family gained power...
boss and close to Siegel. Dragna, who despised Siegel, then gave the contract to Mob hitman, John "Frankie" Carbo
Frankie Carbo
Paul John Carbo better known as "Frankie Carbo" was a New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family, who operated as a boxing promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc....
, a Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
soldier.
However, at the last moment, Siegel got a reprieve. The partly completed Flamingo was scheduled to open December 26. Longtime Siegel friend Lansky convinced the delegates to see how the hotel did in its opening. The delegates agreed and then took a break for Christmas Day. The delegates soon learned that the Flamingo opening night was a flop. The enraged mobsters demanded Siegel's head on a platter. However, Lansky again convinced them to wait. He argued that Siegel could still save the casino and make money.
After two weeks, the Flamingo closed to resume construction. The completed hotel opened a few months later. The Flamingo started making a small profit, but the Mafia investors had finally lost patience with Siegel. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was home alone at Hill's mansion in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
reading a newspaper by a living room window. A gunman with an army carbine rose up from the bushes and fired four shots into the room. Siegel was hit twice in the head and twice in the torso and died instantly.
Lucky and Don Vito
At the end of the Havana Conference, the tension between Luciano and Genovese allegedly reached a boiling point, according to "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano", by Martin Gosch and Richard Hammer.Meeting with Luciano in his room at the Hotel Nacional, Genovese told him that the U.S. government knew that Luciano was in Cuba and was pressuring the Cuban Government to expel him. Since Luciano was going to have to return to Italy, he should turn over leadership of the Luciano Family to Genovese and retire.
Positive that Genovese had tipped off the US government to his presence in Cuba, Luciano finally snapped. He proceeded to beat Genovese and eventually broke three of his ribs; it was three days before Vito could travel again. When Genovese felt better, Luciano and Anastasia then put Genovese on a plane to the States. Luciano also threatened to kill Genovese if he ever mentioned this incident to anyone.
In February 1947, the New York City papers got wind of the fact that Luciano was in Cuba. U.S. drug agent Harry Anslinger (called that S.O.B Asslinger by Luciano) demanded that Cuba deport Luciano to Italy. Anslinger claimed that Luciano was behind the recent surge of heroin into the United States. When Cuba refused to comply, Anslinger took his case to President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
. The U.S. government then halted all shipments of medical supplies to Cuba while Luciano was still on the island. Luciano, Lansky, and President Batista tried to strike back by halting all Cuban sugar exports to the US, but it had no effect on Washington. Later in February, the Cubans caved in; they arrested Luciano and sent him back to Italy. When his plane landed there, the Italians arrested Luciano, but released him soon after.
Lucky Luciano died on January 26, 1962, of a heart attack at the Naples, Italy airport while picking up movie producer Martin Gosch.
Martin Gosch had helped Luciano write an autobiographical screenplay, but the Mafia Commission wouldn't allow the film to be made. Gosch along with Richard Hammer used the screenplay to write the book, "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" in 1975.
Luciano's longtime associate and eventual nemesis, Vito Genovese, died a natural death in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in 1969. Ironically, Luciano and Genovese ended up being buried 100 feet from each other in the same cemetery in New York.
Havana Conference attendees
List of the organized crime figures who attended the Havana Conference on December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional in HavanaHavana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Hosts
- Charlie "Lucky" LucianoLucky LucianoCharlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
, former Luciano family boss, former chairman, co-founder and member of the Commission. Luciano was living in NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy. After the meeting he was named America's boss of bosses. - Meyer "The Little Man" LanskyMeyer LanskyMeyer 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...
, Jewish Syndicate boss, a top financial and gambling operations advisor for the Italian mafia in America and casino operations front man (Las Vegas, Cuba, Bahamas)
New York-New Jersey Delegation
- Frank "The Prime Minister" CostelloFrank CostelloFrank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
, Luciano family boss, Commission member. - Quarico "Willie Moore" MorettiWillie MorettiGuarino "Willie" Moretti was an underboss of the Genovese crime family and a cousin of family boss Frank Costello.-Life:...
, Luciano Family Underboss. - Albert "The Mad Hatter" AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
, Mangano Family Underboss and future boss. - Joseph "Joe Bananas" BonannoJoseph BonannoJoseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
, Bonanno Family boss, charter Commission member. - Gaetano "Tommy Brown" LuccheseTommy LuccheseGaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
, Gagliano Family Underboss and future boss. - Giuseppe "The Old Man" ProfaciJoe ProfaciGiuseppe "Joe" Profaci was a New York La Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what is today known as the Colombo crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organized. He was the family's boss for over three decades.-Family ties:Profaci's sons were Frank...
, Profaci Family boss, charter Commission member. - Giuseppe "Fat Joe" MaglioccoJoseph MaglioccoJoseph Magliocco, also known as "Joe Malayak" was a New York mobster and the boss of the Profaci crime family from 1962 to 1963...
, Profaci Family Underboss. - Vito "Don Vito" GenoveseVito GenoveseVito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
, Luciano Family caporegime and future boss. - Giuseppe "Joe Adonis" DotoJoe AdonisJoe Adonis , also known as "Joey A", "Joe Adone", "Joe Arosa", "James Arosa", and "Joe DiMeo", was a New York mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families.-Early years:Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano,...
, Luciano Family caporegime. - Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" CarfanoAnthony CarfanoAnthony Carfano , also known as "Little Augie Pisano", was a New York gangster who became a caporegime, or group leader, in the Luciano crime family under mob bosses Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello....
, Luciano Family caporegime. - Michele "Big Mike" MirandaMichele MirandaMichele "Big Mike" Miranda was a longtime member and eventual consigliere of the Genovese crime family and one of the most powerful New York gangsters in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early years:...
, Luciano Family caporegime and future Consigliere.
Chicago Delegation
- Anthony "Joe Batters" AccardoTony AccardoAntonino Joseph Accardo , also known as "Joe Batters" or "Big Tuna", rose from small-time hoodlum to the position of day-to-day boss of the Chicago Outfit in 1947, to ultimately become the final Outfit authority in 1972, until his death...
, Chicago Outfit boss, Commission member. - Charles "Trigger Happy" FischettiCharles FischettiCharles "Trigger Happy" Fischetti was a Chicago mobster, former Capone bodyguard and Mafia leader.Fischetti was called a notorious Chicago gangster in the FBI files. He was the mob's political fixer in Chicago. He was also Al Capone's cousin and his reputed consigliere. Fischetti and his brother...
, Chicago Outfit Consigliere. - Rocco FischettiRocco FischettiRocco Fischetti, also known as "Rocky" and "Ralph Fisher" was a Chicago mobster with the Chicago Outfit criminal organization who ran many illegal gambling operations...
, Chicago Outfit Captain.
Buffalo Delegation
- Stefano "The Undertaker" MagaddinoStefano MagaddinoStefano Magaddino was an Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio and Southern Ontario as far north as Montreal, Quebec...
, Buffalo Family boss, charter Commission member.
New Orleans Delegation
- Carlos "Little Man" MarcelloCarlos MarcelloCarlos "The Little Man" Marcello was a Sicilian-American mafioso who became the boss of the New Orleans crime family during the 1940s and held this position for the next 30 years.-Early life:...
, New Orleans Family boss (some mob historians dispute his position at this time).
Tampa Delegation
- Santo "Louie Santos" Trafficante Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr.Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
, Tampa Family caporegime, moved to Havana in 1946 to oversee La Cosa Nostra and Tampa Family casino and business interests, future Tampa Family boss.
Jewish Syndicate Delegation
- Abner "Longy" ZwillmanAbner ZwillmanAbner "Longie" Zwillman , known as the "Al Capone of New Jersey," was an early Prohibition gangster, founding member of the "Big Seven" Ruling Commission and a member of the National Crime Syndicate, who was also associated with Murder Incorporated.-Biography:According to the Social Security Death...
, New Jersey Jewish Syndicate boss, National Syndicate Commission member. - Morris "Moe" DalitzMoe DalitzMorris Barney "Moe" Dalitz was a Jewish American bootlegger, racketeer, casino owner and philanthropist who was one of the major figures who helped shape Las Vegas, Nevada in the 20th century. He was often referred to as Mr...
, Cleveland Jewish Syndicate boss, casino front man (Desert Inn, Las Vegas) - Joseph "Doc" StacherJoseph StacherJoseph "Doc" Stacher was a Jewish syndicate leader who helped bring together the Jewish and Italian Mafia into a national organized crime syndicate....
, New Jersey Jewish Syndicate boss, casino front man (Sands Hotel, Las Vegas) - Philip "Dandy Phil" Kastel, Jewish Syndicate boss, Frank Costello's Louisiana slots operations and Tropicana Casino, Las Vegas partner.
Sidenote
While Luciano knew that Vito Genovese had tipped off the U.S. government to his whereabouts in Cuba, he did not live to find out was that it was "Joe Bananas" Bonanno who tipped off the New York City papers to Luciano's whereabouts in Cuba in February 1947. Joseph Bonanno was a very respected and feared Don who was also ruthless and very ambitious and always had aspired to being crowned capo di tutti capiCapo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi or capo dei capi is Italian for "boss of all bosses" or "boss of bosses". It is a phrase used mainly by the media, public and the law enforcement community to indicate a supremely powerful crime boss in the Sicilian or American Mafia who holds great influence over the whole...
, "boss of bosses" just like his former boss and mentor Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
. This information of Joseph Bonanno's treachery was picked up by former F.B.I. agent William Roemer, who was given the information by several of his former F.B.I. colleagues. Bill Roemer details this on pages 132-42 in his 1990 book, War of the Godfathers.
In popular culture
The film The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
has an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the Havana Conference when Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novels, The Godfather and The Sicilian. He is also the main character of the Godfather film trilogy that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which he was portrayed by Al Pacino, who was twice nominated for an Academy Award for his...
travels to Havana to have a meeting with several other mob bosses.
External links
- CrimeMagazine: Havana Conference – 1946 by Allan May