U.S. awaits Mafia traitor

Press, 6 October 1984, Page 10

U.S. awaits Mafia traitor

NZPA-Reuter New York United States officials say that they hope to import a turn-coat Mafia chief from Italy to help with inquiries into American organised crime. One official, listing subjects they want Tommaso Buscetta to talk about and possibly testify on, said, “We think Tommaso can tell us quite a lot. We plan to spend a lot of time with him.”

The subjects range from the murder in 1979 of New York crime boss, Carmine •Galante, to the killings of 15 other mobsters and the sudden prominence in the U.S. underworld of Sicilian drug dealers working independently of their American

counterparts. Authorities believe that the Sicilian immigrants could provide leaders to replace ageing U.S. gangsters. Buscetta’s confession, covering 3000 typewritten pages, has led to the arrest of scores of Mafia figures in Italy’s biggest crackdown on the criminal organisation since World War 11.

Based on his information, Italian officials asked their U.S. counterparts to round up 30 underworld figures for extradition. U.S. officials have told the 30 that extradition hearings will begin next month. U.S. investigators said that Buscetta had lived for almost a decade in New

York and had high-level ties with every organised crime family in the city. They think he can provide information on Mafia activities, including 15 murders dating back to the 19605, and the Galante killing.

Galante, reputed boss of the Bonnano crime family, was shot dead in a Brooklyn restaurant nine years after Buscetta fled the United States for Brazil to avoid extradition to Italy, where he was wanted on charges connected with the massacre of seven policemen and three bystanders in Sicily.

From Brazil Buscetta kept close ties with U.S. crime families and, Italian crime experts said, was one

of the first in the Mafia to go into the international drug business in a big way. The police have strong theories on why Galante was murdered, but have lacked evidence to bring his killers to justice.

U.S. officials think that Buscetta has information on the so-called Pizza Connection, the largest heroin-im-porting ring ever broken in the United States.

The ring got its nickname because it was alleged to have used pizza parlours as fronts to move heroin into the United States.

About 40 people have been indicted in the case, including the 30 whose extradition is being sought by Italy.