21. The False Depiction of the Mob’s Aversion to Drugs
One of the more pervasive – and false – narratives about the Italian American mafia claims that it was hostile to narcotics. In reality, it was anything but. Charles “Lucky” Luciano (1897 – 1962) was a visionary crime mafia boss who founded today’s Genovese crime family – one of New York City’s five mafia families. He is also credited with establishing The Commission – a committee running the Italian-American mafia and arbitrating its internal disputes to avoid bloody gang wars that could disrupt business.
Lucky Luciano is considered the founding father of the Italian-American mafia, and the key architect who created modern American organized crime as we know it. He was also America’s biggest drug dealer. A criminal since childhood, Luciano emigrated to America when he was nine. By age ten, he was involved in shoplifting, mugging, and extortion. When he was nineteen, Luciano was sentenced to six months for selling heroin. In 1920, he joined Joe Masseria’s crime family, and became his chief lieutenant, running his bootlegging, prostitution, and narcotics operations.
