Trafficante Sr. In , Santo Sr. The Trafficante family formed a strong alliance with the Batista government in Cuba and profited from their investments, although they never achieved the goal of dominating gambling on the island. According to Scott M. Deitche in The Silent Don, the family was profiting not only from its offshore casinos but from narcotics trafficking.
It was clear that federal and local law enforcement had an acute interest in the Trafficante family. They discussed the terms of Castro's demise, with Giancana suggesting that the usual mob method of a quick bullet to the head be eschewed in favor of something more delicate, like poison. The wily Giancana was less interested in bumping off Castro than in scoring points with the federal government, and he intended to call in as many chips as he could before the game was over.
The third is Jimmy Hoffa, the Teamsters' boss who was killed Like Carlos Marcello, each of the other two had spoken openly of assassination plots against the Kennedys, and this all occurred in the summer months of All three of them were very close friends, and, when we look at Jack Ruby's telephone records, we find an astonishing peak in the number of out-of-state calls in the months before the assassination - it's actually fold greater than in the month of the previous January.
Most of those calls are to organized crime figures, in particular to top associates of Marcello, Trafficante, and Hoffa. Of the Mafia trio, only Roselli testified before the State committee. On July 19, , the night before he was going to be questioned by committee members, Sam Giancana was preparing a supper The killer followed up by discharging six more rounds into Giancana's neck and mouth. Some organized-crime experts theorized that Giancana's murder was unrelated to the Senate inquiry, and that he was killed by rivals to stop him from regaining supremacy of Chicago's Mafia clan.
From what I had picked up over the years about mob executions, the nature of Giancana's death contradicts that theory. In a traditional Mafia hit, a bullet in the throat signifies that the victim had been 'talking,' and a bullet in the mouth means he will never 'rat' again. Almost exactly on the first anniversary of Giancana's death, another layer of mystery was added to the coincidence of his slaying and the Senate's CIA investigation.
After years of seemingly cooperating with congressional committees and talking rather freely with newspaper columnists about Mafia affairs, Johnny Roselli became extremely cautious, almost reclusive In late July , Roselli made a dinner date.
Two days after dining with Santo, Roselli disappeared. Twelve days later, on August 7, , a fifty gallon drum containing the legless body of a silver-haired man The corpse was Johnny Roselli. The manner of Roselli's death also fit a Mafia pattern.
He was beguiled to his death by someone he trusted. The dumping of his body in the bay was another message: The killers either wanted to give the impression that he had deliberately vanished or they wanted to punish his relatives for his misdeeds, perhaps his violation of omerta One fact, however, was indisputable: Santo Trafficante was the only survivor of the three mobsters recruited by the CIA to kill Fidel Castro.
The execution of John F. Kennedy would be performed by a series of teams selected from CIA-sponsored exile and mercenary groups in Miami and New Orleans. The modus operandi to be employed would be very simple.
The murder of the President of the United States could not resemble a standard syndicate killing. It should, ideally, be made to look as if it were the work of a lone gunman. As a sure kill could not be guaranteed by the work of only one gunman, two additional firing sites would be necessary. The next item to pursue was the involvement of Fidel Castro. Trafficante planned the scenario. He would act as a double agent and, through an intermediary, warn Castro that the CIA, under presidential directive, would execute another assassination attempt on the Cuban dictator.
Trafficante would then select two expendable subordinates who would be set up to murder Castro. The hitmen, under the impression they were actually working for the CIA, would be caught by Castro and reveal, after having been tortured, the identity of their supposed employer. As further evidence of their CIA affiliation, they would be equipped with assassination items readily identifiable with the clandestine agency.
With both this evidence and the confessions of the hitmen, Fidel Castro would undoubtedly make a statement indicating his desire for revenge against the United States government. After the death of JFK, Castro's statement would be viewed as evidence of his complicity in the President's assassination.
Now that the actual plan for the assassination of JFK had been completed, it was time to find the players to fit the designated roles. To this end, Trafficante sent out word to the Mafia families and clearly detailed his requirements for personnel, armaments, communications and management of the two-phased operation. David Ferrie received word of Trafficante's requirements and suggested Lee Harvey Oswald for the role of lone gunman in the assassination scenario. Oswald was the perfect patsy and fit all the requirements established to render the assassination a non syndicate hit: he was supposedly a liberal political activist with no traceable mob connections and presently residing in New Orleans - Marcello's home territory.
Trafficante chose Rolando Masferrer, a Cuban mercenary closely associated with Kohly and del Vane, to assist in the implementation of the JFK assassination scheme. Masferrer would both coordinate and finance the assigned Kennedy hit teams, one of which would include John Michael Mertz. The staged Castro assassination attempt was coordinated by Tony Verona, "Prio" Socarras' former prime minister. Trafficante's plan worked.
He added a warning to his statement, maintaining that, if this continued, U. Although Trafficante and Ferrie maintained vigilant security precautions while both planning and staffing the JFK operation, their secrecy was breached. Edgar Hoover learned of both the contract on JFK and the ensuing plot to assassinate him. A Cuban Mafia member told a wealthy Cuban exile, Jose Aleman of Miami, that Trafficante felt indebted to Aleman's cousin, and wanted to reciprocate by helping Aleman solve the cash problems he was having trying to build a new motel.
The Silent Don. Mob Lawyer. Kennedy Encyclopedia. Santo Trafficante. You are talking about before Castro came in? Louis Stokes: Before he came in, yes.
Louis Stokes: What effect did it have on the gambling business? How did it affect your business? Santo Trafficante: I suppose so. Louis Stokes: Was there anticipated at all that he might come to power at that time? Santo Trafficante: Nobody ever dreamt that he would come to power at that time. Louis Stokes: When Fidel Castro took over, how soon did he order the casinos to be closed?
Louis Stokes: After Castro came to power, did you continue to operate your business as usual? Santo Trafficante: No, everything was closed. Louis Stokes: When you left Cuba, where did you next live? Santo Trafficante: I lived in Miami. Santo Trafficante: It was around either the latter part of , or first part of Louis Stokes: And can you tell us who was the person who first contacted you?
Santo Trafficante: John Roselli. Louis Stokes: And where did he approach you? Santo Trafficante: I think we were in the Fontaine bleau Hotel. Louis Stokes: And can you give us the date? Louis Stokes: Can you approximate the time? Santo Trafficante: I told you it was either the latter part of or first part of Louis Stokes: Did you know Mr. Roselli before that date? Santo Trafficante: Yes, I had met him. He pushed Charlie Wall out of the rackets, and consolidated power in the Tampa Mafia.
From to , things were fairly quiet. According to some researchers, Santo Sr. Some researchers believe it was to solidify American intelligence involvement in trafficking channels through Central and South America. However, by the s, upheaval arose for the Trafficante family.
An opposing faction disagreed with the transfer of power and internal battles began in , leaving another trail of bodies in Tampa. The committee subpoenaed leading underworld figures to testify. But the Kefauver panel succeeded in uncovering the depth of Mafia influence in Tampa, exposing its citizens to the truth of how deeply ingrained the Mafia were in everything, from politics to law enforcement. After the Kefauver hearings, Santo Trafficante Sr. Though the Trafficantes avoided the Kefauver subpoenas, Charlie Wall appeared.
While he had been out of the rackets for a decade, Wall took time to educate the committee on the inner workings of Tampa crime during his reign. Despite his decision to testify in front of the Kefauver Committee, Wall faced no retribution in Tampa.
0コメント