Cosa Nostra News

"(Carmine) Galenti (sic) believes in rapid extermination of opposition and any who endanger his position of power. His associates fear him for his bad temper." -- FBI files .... Carmine Galante in 1947, when he was around 37 years old. You would have thought you were looking at just another innocuous, bespectacled, grandfatherly type if you had seen the 5-foot 5-inch tall, 60-something-year-old Carmine (Lilo) Galante examining the artichokes and tomatoes at Balducci’s in Greenwich Village or enjoying espresso and cannoli at De Robertis Pasticceria on the Lower East Side or dining at the Tre Amici Ristorante at 1294 Third Avenue. He reportedly also jogged along the East River path near the United Nations building and played handball at the YMCA (despite walking with a stoop). His daily routine also included being driven by a chauffeur each morning to L&T Cleaners at 245 Elizabeth Street, reportedly his base of operations. You would never think he was a man who could be in...

The so-called mental dullard Carmine Galante swiftly perceived Montreal's strategic importance for large-scale narcotics trafficking. First off is the Quebec province's proximity to New York, the world's premier market for anything of value, including illegal products, such as narcotics. Port of Montreal  Then there's Montreal's extensive array of port facilities, which made it the perfect platform from which to smuggle European-synthesized drugs into North America. (It was a lot easier to smuggle drugs into Montreal than into New York.) And from the Empire State, the drugs easily could be brought to cities across the continental United States. The drugs didn't necessarily have to cross the border in New York. In fact, the Mafia likely used many of the same smuggling routes used during Prohibition, which also is likely when elements of organized crime in America and Canada began forming alliances. After the January 16, 1920 passage of the Volste...

The Mafia in America evolved into one organization linked to the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, though from its inception it was composed of former members of all Italy's Mafias, including the Calabrian Ndrangheta and Neapolitan Camorra. Likely due to immigration trends, Canada is composed of two distinct Mafia organizations, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Calabrian Ndrangheta. Stefano Magaddino appointed Giacomo Luppino to be his representative, among others.  The American Mafia did business with both groups, apparently not noticing the difference or using any rivalries to manipulate the territory.