French Connection

The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was responsible for providing the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States. It was headed by the Corsican criminals Paul Carbone (and his associate François Spirito) and Antoine Guérini, and also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni, Salvatore Greco, and Meyer Lansky. Most of its starting capital came from assets that Ricord had stolen during World War II when he worked for Henri Lafont, one of the heads of the Carlingue (French Gestapo) during the German occupation in World War II.

Gangsters linked with the French Connection

Unione Corse members

• Paul Carbone
• Marcel Francisci
• Antoine Guérini]
• Barthélemy Guérini
• Paul Mondoloni
• Joseph Orsini
• Francois Spirito

Canadian mobsters

• John Papalia, Hamilton, Ontario
• Vic Cotroni, leader of the Cotroni crime family of Montreal

American mobsters

• Vito Agueci, gangster from New York
• Albert Agueci, Agueci Brothers

Lucchese crime family members

• Giovanni "Big John" Ormento, a capo involved in large scale narcotic trafficking
• Salvatore Lo Proto, an important member of Big John's narcotic trafficking ring
• Angelo M. Loiacano, wholesaler of Big John Ormento's narcotic trafficking ring
• Vincent Papa, mastermind of "Who Stole the French Connection" - drugs from the NYPD Property Room
• Anthony Loria, Sr. partner of Vincent Papa, major heroin dealer
• Angelo "Little Angie" Tuminaro, a soldier, involved in narcotic trafficking
• Pasquale "Patsy" Fuca, nephew to Tuminaro, involved in the narcotic trade
• Anthony DiPasqua, was a narcotic trafficker