The Sixth Family by Lee Lamothe Page B

from established organized crime interests. Settecasi recognized the power of the American Mafia families in the U.S. and Canada on their home turf, but he had little use for them.

    By his late fifties, Settecasi was considered a Mafia statesman. His position in Agrigento was secure. When his position in the Mafia of western Sicily was noted by a parliamentary commission, it was greeted with mock surprise by local officials, who protested that Settecasi was simply an elderly gentleman who spent his days with other retirees, playing cards and talking about the good old days. The denials persisted even after his murder, in 1981.

    Despite the popular image, throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, Settecasi was very much consumed by criminal affairs, much of it on matters of policy and the settling of disagreements between the codes of the Sicilian Men of Honor, the ’Ndrangheta of Calabria and the American Mafia. The question of compatibility or equivalency between the old Italian criminal fraternities—a question put in acute context by Calderone, the old Catania boss—was a vexing one that was eroding once-cordial relationships. Such problems were arising exponentially in North America as the Sicilian traffickers, particularly members and associates of the Sixth Family, found themselves in conflict with existing organized crime groups. It was happening in all of the important drug transit points—in New York, Montreal and, to a lesser degree, South America. These were early days for such disputes and Nick Rizzuto and Paolo Violi were on the cutting edge of a dangerous trend that would repeat itself wherever the expatriate Mafia landed. Everyone should have been paying closer attention.

    Paolo Violi’s complaints about Nick Rizzuto were nothing new to Settecasi. A skilled diplomat who kept a poker face, he listened patiently to Violi and promised to come to Montreal to deal with the situation directly. His show of concern, and even a measure of sympathy, was certainly a charade. It is inconceivable that Settecasi would have considered siding with Violi against the Rizzutos. All evidence suggests that, behind the scenes, Settecasi was biding his time while putting on the expected show in a bid to accomodate the old codes.

    While the Sixth Family in Montreal was struggling with the frustrating obstinacy of Violi, Settecasi was maneuvering to arrange a made-in-Agrigento heroin pipeline. Drug intelligence analysts have long documented Settecasi’s interest in international drug trafficking at the highest levels: “Settecasi is said to have been one of the few Sicilian Mafia Men of Honor present at both Apalachin and Grand Hôtel et des Palmes in October and November 1957,” a police report reads, referring to the two seminal “Mafia summits” during which the world’s heroin networks were mapped out—the Palermo hotel meeting that went off without a hitch, and the disastrous follow-up meeting in Apalachin, in rural New York State. Canadian police believe Settecasi and other attendees fled into the woods when the gathering was uncovered by authorities. Police scooped up dozens of men that day who held rank in the American Mafia, but others are believed to have escaped. Among those noted by police was Pasquale Sciortino, from Cattolica Eraclea. Montreal was represented by Luigi Greco and Pep Cotroni, some police investigators believe. Despite repeated and largely speculative references to Settecasi and the Montreal mobsters being at the Apalachin meeting, it seems unlikely that these three would be among the lucky few who escaped without being caught and identified by U.S. authorities. It seems more likely that the Sicilians and Canadians met with American mafiosi involved in their budding heroin partnership in separate meetings in the lead-up to the Apalachin debacle.

    Certainly there is an intriguing timing to an early notation U.S. authorities made on Nick Rizzuto: his first registered crossing into America. Just nine