Drugs and the Mafia

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Drugs and the Mafia

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The Accuracy of Drugs as portrayed in the Godfather by Mario Puzo, as opposed to reality

Throughout history Writers have been writing fictional novels based on real historical events. The Godfather by Mario Puzo is such a book in which Puzo portrays Mafia life and business starting at the late 40’s. The Corleone crime Family in this novel is shown having troubles with the other organized crime syndicates concerning drugs. Many of the other families are pushing the idea of joining the narcotics market, however the Corleones do not want to intervene in such a disagreeable business. Much tension forms as mobster wars starts within the syndicates and most favor drugs.

My purpose of this paper will be to analyze whether Mario Puzo the author of The Godfather , represents an accurate portrayal of narcotics as a major part of Mafia business.

As the demand for illegal narcotics rose in the United States, it was the Mafia who would jump on it as they did all other illegal activities, such as gambling operations, prostitution, extortion, and loan sharking. The whole drawback to this was, from where could they get it. Depending on what it was, it had to be found and brought in from over-seas. From Ecuador they could obtain opium poppies with which to make heroin, and virtually unlimited supply of coca leaves, with which to make cocaine from Bolivia and Peru. Plus their smuggling routes and expertise were solidly established. Hence, the first drug laboratories were established in Medellin, supposedly with Mafia money (Eddy and Hugo, 45). The New York Mafia as well as other American crime families, would buy the drugs from Colombian drug lords. One of the major Colombian syndicates- commo...

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...in importation and distribution in the United States, all charged in the indictment later.

Although Catalano’s organization was located in New York City, the investigation by the FBI revealed that Catalano’s heroin business was tied directly to organized criminal groups in Sicily.(Roemer, 406). Another way they would try to cover up or pay someone elsoe to do all of the work.

Delgiorno and other members of his family would loan a drug dealer to finance the importation of fifty to a hundred gallons of p-z-p(pheno- two- propane, used to make a drug called Meth). Since Delgiorno dealt with loan sharking and this was a loan sharking deal it technically skirted the mob prohibition on dealing drugs.(Anastasia, 114). If any of these acts would have happened a decade earlier it would not have been let go so easily and all of these would have been punished by death.

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