The Second Coming

One would have reached the conclusion that the French Connection operation would put a major dent into Lucchese drug interests. But a stack of money that high has a way of continuing to resurface. Where there is sufficient will there is a way to reach an objective. The collection of drugs taken through the French Connection Strike was placed in the evidence collection to be utilized in future drug cases related to the original strike. From time to time the drugs were pulled from the evidence collection to be brought into court to aid the prosecution in pursuit of a conviction. At one point the entire collection was taken to Washington D.C., for use in a committee hearing related to drugs. The constant deposit and withdrawal of the drugs allowed it to pass through more and more hands. It appears that as it passed through the various hands fingers began to become sticky, due to the value of the collection. On November 21st, 1972, ten years after the heroin was lodged in the Office, it was checked on, following an unrelated case. Inside the three suitcases where it was stored, police found bags of flower and cornstarch. A detective called Nuzziatto had last signed out the heroin on September 29th, 1969. Subsequent investigations discovered that in addition to the "French Connection" heroin, over 300 lbs. of cocaine and heroin stored as evidence in other cases, had also been stolen. The street value of these drugs was estimated at seventy-three million dollars. It was the biggest robbery ever in the history of America, and it had taken place right under the noses of the New York Police Department.

One Vincent Pappa, who had close connections to the Lucchese Family was suspected of playing a major role in the disappearing drugs. It is ironic that the drugs taken from the Lucchese Family were able to make it back into their hands and on to the street. To collect the information required for a conviction of those involved in the case a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was formed in the hopes that allowing a special group of police extraordinary powers to carry out investigations. The powers of these special agents came close in many cases to breaking the very laws that the unit was supposed to uphold. Pappa was convicted, but at an unbelievable price in relation to police powers and individual rights. The special unit was provided with so much in the way of special powers, financial support, and secrecy that many of the unit's members were referred to as the "Princes of the City." This term referred to the powers held by the Italian Princes who roamed as they pleased and conducted themselves as they saw fit in the medieval city-states of Italy. The SIU-Special Investigating Unit of the NYPD was the most corrupt law enforcement agency in American history. It was said of its officers that they were poor when they began in the unit, but were soon able to collect large fortunes, due to their police work. The use of "Junkies" and other informants in many cases called for the unit members to use drugs, themselves, in the collection of evidence. When arrests and strikes were made not all of the booty was taken for evidence; some of it often fell into the pockets of unit members. Their unique assignment was to investigate major narcotic traffickers in New York, and their creation as an anti-crime unit stemmed directly from the French Connection case. The eighty men and women who formed the SIU roamed across the city at will, chasing leads, following suspects, arresting drug dealers and filling their pockets with huge amounts of money siphoned off the criminals they arrested. Pocketing money and drugs became a standard procedure. At their peak, the agents were like the Princes of the City in terms of their rights and powers that appeared to place them above the law. The Lucchese Family could smell the corruption and quickly began to deal with these agents dragging them even deeper into the areas of corruption. The corruption was so high scale and massive that the Lucchese Family once again achieved Hollywood fame through the motion picture, "The Princes of the City." Within a short period of time a small time hood and associate of the Lucchese Family would put them on the screen once again in the motion picture "Goodfellows."

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