Who Is "Spanish Carmine," the Mob Associate Arrested in Recent Luchese Bust?

A man of Spanish descent was among the Luchese crime family mobsters arrested in New York in late May.

Carmelo Garcia Babarro, a 65-year-old Basque from Bilbao was among the arrested Luchese mobsters.

A total of 15 Luchese members and associates were arrested, one of whom was Carmelo Garcia Babarro, 65, a Basque from Bilbao, who has US citizenship; the four others were already in prison for other crimes during the raid.

The Luchese crime family's street boss, underboss and consiglieri were among the arrested. The defendants face racketeering, murder, narcotics and firearms offenses. As noted previously, the indictment's centerpiece is the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish.




Babarro is an associate of the crime family and, based on the indictment, was involved in a plot to transport cocaine to Spain from Argentina. Large quantities of the drug were to be dissolved in bottles of wine. Babarro worked alongside Luchese mobster Tindaro Corso.

Babarro, nicknamed "Spanish Carmine," made two trips to Alicante in 2016. Guardia Civil investigators tracked him after the FBI tipped them off to the mobster's arrival.

During the second trip he stayed with Corso in the Melia Hotel near Postiguet beach. The two spent several days together, visiting Benidorm, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Spain, as well as bars and a local strip club.

Two Guardia Civil officers arrived here to assist in the arrests.

Both men face life imprisonment.

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