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Incensed by their treatment under Mussolini's regime and anxious to reestablish their European criminal network, a number of mafioso, including incarcerated kingpin Charles "Lucky" Luciano, offered their full support to American intelligence officers.
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00:25A CIDADE NO BRASIL
00:30Anybody que criticizes this plan
00:32doesn't realize the needs of war.
00:34This is war.
00:36You've got to win.
00:37This is the story of mob boss Lucky Luciano
00:39and the astonishing secret coalition
00:42that the U.S. Navy never wanted told.
01:02The 7th of December, 1941, Pearl Harbor.
01:16Following two years of internal debate
01:19over the nation's involvement in the war,
01:21American President Franklin Roosevelt's hand is forced
01:24and the U.S. enters the global conflict.
01:28From the moment the United States engages
01:30in the Second World War after the Japanese attack
01:32on Pearl Harbor, we are then, as a country,
01:35confronted with a two-front war,
01:37one in the Pacific, one in Europe.
01:40Even before the Imperial Japanese Army's deadly attack,
01:44the U.S. had been supplying the British and the Russians
01:46in their fight against the Nazis.
01:49An effort that sees many supply vessels crossing the Atlantic
01:52attacked by German submarines.
02:00With the U.S. now officially entering the war,
02:03sightings of deadly U-boats off the eastern shores of the country
02:06rapidly increase, raising concerns that they are being assisted
02:10in their efforts by enemy sympathizers
02:12secreted within immigrant communities on land.
02:15People are saying,
02:16there's a German submarine off New Jersey?
02:18How is that submarine operating so far from Germany?
02:21You have spies being arrested in New York in January 1942
02:25after a counter-espionage operation.
02:28People are fearful about that.
02:30If the German submarines can cut off American trade,
02:35think about what that will do to the food supply of the country.
02:38So that's why you're going to get all efforts
02:41to protect the East Coast, stop sabotage,
02:44stop the German submarines.
02:46Any means we can do it, we're going to try to do it.
02:49The 9th of February 1942.
02:54Manhattan's West 48th Street Pier.
02:57The SS Normandy is on fire.
03:01The French luxury liner is being refitted
03:03as an American troop transport
03:05with the intention that it will play a vital part in the war effort.
03:09As the crew abandons ship,
03:11fears quickly spread amongst the horrified onlookers
03:14about the cause of the blaze.
03:16Just months after Pearl Harbor,
03:19the burning of the SS Normandy
03:21was a major setback for the naval forces in New York.
03:26So they had to take this very seriously.
03:32The Normandy was the top of the pyramid
03:36in terms of feeding into the fear that was already present.
03:38The real issue with the Normandy fire
03:41is that it is sitting there now in the harbor.
03:44It's not just an eyesore,
03:46but it's something that reminds every New Yorker
03:49as they go past it,
03:50there's the Normandy, that burn, how did it burn?
03:54As anxiety across the city surges,
03:57the Office of Naval Intelligence, the ONI,
04:00is intent on uncovering how this happened.
04:02The great fear of naval intelligence
04:05was that the west side docks particularly,
04:09which was the major seaport,
04:11might have been infiltrated by saboteurs
04:13and also Nazi or Italian partisans,
04:18longshoremen and the fishermen who used New York ports,
04:22who were trying to help the submarine campaign.
04:26Knowing that the docks are vital to the war effort,
04:29the Navy's New York District Chief,
04:30Commander Charles Haffenden,
04:32sends his men down to conduct investigations among the workers.
04:37Naval Intelligence had more than 100 agents
04:40trying to work their New York peers,
04:42and they were getting nowhere.
04:44They couldn't pass themselves off as longshoremen.
04:47They tried going to bars and meeting places,
04:50and they were easily made.
04:52They were looked upon suspiciously
04:54and frankly, they were desperate.
04:57Naval Intelligence Commander Haffenden
05:00really wanted to understand
05:02who runs the New York docks.
05:05And he famously said,
05:07I'll talk to anyone,
05:08a priest, a gangster, or the devil.
05:11And of course, it was the Mafia.
05:13The Mafia had a long-established
05:16Labour Union racket going on,
05:18so they were very much in touch with the docks and the dock workers.
05:27This discovery sets the stage for an extraordinary operation.
05:33Realising the scope of the Mafia's influence,
05:36Haffenden makes contact with the mob.
05:39A tip-off leads him to Joe Soxlanza,
05:42a top-ranking mafioso from Sicily,
05:44who controls the dock workers' union from the Fulton Fish Market.
05:48Fulton Fish Market was in the Lower East Side,
05:52and so it was very well placed for the Mafia.
05:55It was a very useful power hub.
05:59Joe Soxlanza, he is in control of the market.
06:03He also dominates the union.
06:05He is the man in that part of New York City.
06:09He was a mobster, no question about it.
06:12A violent man.
06:18Meeting in secret,
06:20Haffenden approaches Lanza
06:21and asks for the Mafia's assistance
06:23in gaining his men access to New York's docks.
06:27Soxlanza agrees to help,
06:29and soon undercover Navy intelligence officers
06:32are deployed among the dock workers and on fishing boats
06:34in an effort to uncover enemy exploits.
06:38Haffenden officially names this covert alliance
06:41Operation Underworld.
06:44You have to understand,
06:46Mafia influence is not just restricted to the docks.
06:49They have interests in hotels,
06:50prostitution, gambling, restaurants.
06:54They have interests all over the city of New York
06:56and the rest of the East Coast.
06:58You have two Germans or Italian pro-fascists
07:02talking in an Italian restaurant over dinner.
07:04What better way to catch them
07:06than by having a waiter
07:07who is a O&I person
07:09but has obtained a union card
07:11through Joe, Sox, Lanza or somebody else
07:14serving them dinner.
07:15He overhears them.
07:16He finds out their plans.
07:18They can get people union cards
07:20to be anything they want.
07:22But the operation can only go so far.
07:25Haffenden's agents are limited to the Lower East Side.
07:28They need to cast a wider net
07:30that takes in the more vital West Side Piers
07:32and the site of the Normandy fire.
07:34When the naval investigators came to Sox,
07:38Sox admitted he had no control over the West Side.
07:41That was run by other mob families.
07:46And he told them,
07:47there's only one man who could flash the whip
07:51to make sure everything was OK on the West Side Piers.
07:57and that's Lucky Luciano.
08:00A notorious overlord of organised crime,
08:04Charles Lucky Luciano
08:05is one of the most prominent mafia figures in America.
08:08But he is also in jail.
08:11Incarcerated in a maximum security prison,
08:14Luciano is serving a sentence of up to 50 years.
08:17Yet even from inside,
08:19he continues to exert considerable influence.
08:24For Haffenden and the Office of Naval Intelligence,
08:26turning to this unlikely ally
08:28is their best bet at securing the docks.
08:31But getting to him will not be easy.
08:35When it comes time to get Luciano
08:37recruited into this Operation Underworld,
08:39Joe Sox Lanza says,
08:41I can't do it.
08:42I'm not close enough to Luciano.
08:43The guy to get him is Meyer Lansky.
08:47Meyer Lansky is Lucky Luciano's
08:50closest friend and associate.
08:53The Jewish gangster and the Sicilian mobster
08:55had formed an unlikely alliance
08:57during their rise to power in the 1920s.
09:01And without Lansky's support,
09:03the operation will be derailed.
09:09Despite his own brutal activities,
09:11Meyer Lansky has a history
09:13of fighting against the fascists.
09:15Even before the war,
09:17he had been concerned about the rise
09:18of the German-American Bund,
09:20an American Nazi organization.
09:24The Jewish establishment in New York
09:26had sought his help to disrupt
09:27secret Bund meetings and rallies.
09:32Lansky would take fellow Jewish gangsters
09:34and break up these meetings.
09:36So really, from the middle of the 1930s,
09:39he was very much involved
09:40in this anti-Nazi movement.
09:43And so when Commander Haffenden
09:45approached him,
09:46he didn't have to think twice about it.
09:50April 1942.
09:52Haffenden and Meyer Lansky's clandestine encounter
09:55is arranged to take place
09:56at the Hotel Astor in Manhattan.
10:00Here, Lansky offers his assistance
10:02and agrees to help secure the docks.
10:05In return, he asks only that Lucky Luciano
10:08gets transferred to the low-security prison
10:10in Great Meadows, New York.
10:12Once the transfer is complete,
10:14he'll approach the crime boss himself
10:16to make the case for the Mafia's wider support
10:19of Operation Underworld.
10:24May 1942.
10:26Lansky travels to Great Meadows Prison
10:28in upstate New York
10:29for a summit meeting with Luciano.
10:31Now, Lucky was no fool.
10:33He agreed to do this,
10:34but in return, he wanted something.
10:37Luciano was facing 30 to 50 years in jail.
10:41His parole would not be until 1956.
10:44He really hated being in this stinking, freezing cell.
10:49He wanted to get out.
10:50As far as he was concerned,
10:52World War II was a break for him
10:54because he actually had some influence
10:56and could maybe use that to get out of jail.
11:01Keeping his cards close to his chest,
11:03Lucky agrees to this alliance.
11:05He instructs Mayer Lansky
11:07to spread the word around the Westside docks
11:09that the mob is now a part of the war effort.
11:12Lucky used Lansky as his intermediary.
11:16Everybody in organized crime
11:18knew that when Mayer Lansky delivered a message from Lucky
11:22that it was authentic.
11:24No question.
11:26Within weeks,
11:28mob enforcers are patrolling the waterfront,
11:30breaking strikes and bones if necessary.
11:34Naval intelligence agents are mingling with dock workers,
11:37looking out for spies,
11:38saboteurs and submarines.
11:40Lucky's involvement has worked.
11:43And while Mayer Lansky's motives for opposing the Axis powers are clear,
11:48native Sicilian Luciano's reasons for facing off against the fascists are simple.
11:54He wants revenge.
12:00May 1942.
12:02Since the bombing at Pearl Harbor five months earlier,
12:05people living in coastal cities across the U.S.
12:08have felt a grave sense of vulnerability.
12:11Nowhere more so than on New York City's waterfront.
12:15Fearing covert agents and enemy sympathizers
12:18are planning acts of sabotage,
12:20naval intelligence looked to secure the city's docks,
12:23a vital hub of the U.S. war effort.
12:26To do so,
12:27Navy commander Charles Haffenden turns to an unlikely ally,
12:31imprisoned mafia kingpin,
12:33Lucky Luciano.
12:35Anybody who criticizes this plan
12:37doesn't realize the needs of war.
12:40This is war.
12:41You've got to win.
12:42For the Sicilian gangster,
12:44a chance to fight against the fascists
12:46was an offer he couldn't refuse.
12:48Following centuries of operating unopposed on the island of Sicily,
12:52Benito Mussolini's rise to power
12:54has threatened to put an end to the mafia.
12:58The origins of the mafia go back possibly
13:01with its name to the Middle Ages,
13:04meaning strong men, men of honor.
13:06The mafia was seen as patriotic,
13:11militant organizers
13:12who opposed foreign domination.
13:16There were novels written about them,
13:19plays written about them,
13:20in which they were conceived of as noble figures.
13:26But by the 1890s,
13:28the patriots had evolved into oppressors.
13:31They had, in effect, become landowners
13:34and merged themselves with the existing authority,
13:37became politically important
13:39because they could bring out the vote.
13:41They had gotten into this system
13:43where there was a father,
13:45the boss,
13:46and underlings.
13:47And they were immune
13:48from any kind of legal authority.
13:52The Sicilian mafia
13:53infiltrate the police systematically,
13:56and they also infiltrate
13:59the wealthiest business
14:01on the island,
14:03which is the growing of lemons.
14:05It's a big export industry.
14:07This is some of the most valuable
14:09agricultural land
14:10in the whole of Europe,
14:12and it's perfect for protection rackets,
14:15where you create a fear,
14:18you smash the shop window,
14:20and then you say,
14:21I'll be the guy who protects you.
14:23The mafia was notorious.
14:27While the mafia may be
14:29the strongest force on the island,
14:31Sicily, as a province of Italy,
14:33now faces the same uncertainty
14:34thrust upon the whole country
14:36following the outcome
14:37of the First World War.
14:40Despite being on the winning side,
14:43Italy's participation in the conflict
14:44proves ruinous,
14:45and not even the reach
14:47or influence of the mafia
14:48can affect the growing turmoil
14:50and political upheaval that ensues.
14:53Italy, from 1999,
14:54has been set by land seizures,
14:57occupation of the factories.
14:59You have strikes.
15:00You have a government
15:01that is unable to cope with it
15:03because it doesn't have
15:04a real good party structure.
15:05There's fear of a communist revolution.
15:09Out of this chaos
15:10comes Benito Mussolini.
15:12He establishes the fascist movement
15:13in Milan.
15:14His platform is kind of a combination
15:16of nationalism, syndicalism,
15:19left-leaning ideologies.
15:21It's a pragmatic platform
15:23designed to draw people in.
15:26Mussolini organizes this vast movement
15:29of malcontents
15:30into this fascist movement.
15:32The blackshirts,
15:33forms them into squads.
15:35He's the unifying element.
15:37And what happens
15:38for the next two years
15:39you have this battle
15:40between fascists
15:41and socialists.
15:43And the struggle
15:44mainly takes place
15:45in northern Italy.
15:46And it's brutal.
15:49Mussolini's black shirts
15:50attack socialist strongholds
15:52and establishment figures,
15:53often using barbaric tactics
15:55that create pandemonium
15:56in the country.
15:58Then in October 1922,
16:01the fascists march on Rome,
16:02threatening a coup d'etat.
16:05Mussolini's mentality
16:06and actions
16:06were basically
16:08the same as the mafias.
16:10Here he is telling people,
16:11you put me in power,
16:13you keep me in power,
16:14and guess what?
16:15The violence will end.
16:16It's a protection-extortion racket.
16:19The king yields,
16:21legally naming Mussolini
16:22the new prime minister of Italy.
16:24He quickly sets about
16:26removing any opposition.
16:28Soon he has established
16:29a one-party state
16:30where he is
16:31Il Duce,
16:32the leader.
16:34Once established,
16:36Mussolini surveys his domain
16:38for any potential threats
16:39to his new totalitarian state.
16:41He finds that
16:43his most ruthless adversary
16:44occupies the southern island
16:46of Sicily.
16:48Mussolini is very suspicious
16:50of the mafia.
16:51It's useful to him
16:51as a way of controlling
16:53the Italian south,
16:54but it is a contending
16:56node of power.
16:58But now that he's in control,
17:00Mussolini refuses
17:01to tolerate any group
17:03who won't accept
17:03the absolute authority
17:05of the fascists.
17:06In 1924,
17:08he visits Sicily
17:09and he goes to this little Italian village,
17:13Piana di Grecci,
17:14and he meets with the local mafia boss,
17:17fixer Francesco Cuccia.
17:20And Cuccia says,
17:21what do you have all these carabinieri,
17:24all these police and bodyguards around you?
17:26You're here under my protection.
17:28And Mussolini,
17:29being the Duce,
17:30being the supreme leader of Italy,
17:32admitting of no rivals,
17:35scorns Cuccia.
17:36So Cuccia,
17:37the next day
17:38when Mussolini
17:39is giving a speech
17:40to the assembled people
17:41of the village,
17:42orders them not to turn up.
17:45Mussolini's humiliated.
17:46I mean,
17:47he cannot tolerate
17:48a state within a state.
17:50This is May of 1924.
17:52Within weeks,
17:53he appoints
17:55Cesare Mardi
17:56and says,
17:57go and destroy the mafia.
18:01Looking to gain control
18:02over the island,
18:03retired police chief,
18:04Cesare Mori
18:05becomes the battering ram
18:07with which Mussolini
18:08assaults the mafia.
18:09He had formerly headed
18:11task forces in Bologna
18:12and Rome.
18:13He's now given
18:14special powers
18:15and hundreds of lawmen
18:17to wage war
18:17on organised crime
18:19in Sicily.
18:21Cesare Mori
18:22was a very devoted
18:24policeman
18:25who had made
18:26his reputation
18:27principally
18:28fighting the mafia
18:29and lawlessness
18:30in western Sicily
18:31after the First World War.
18:33so he made a good
18:35front man
18:36for Mussolini's
18:38anti-mafia operation.
18:43There's no fair play here.
18:45Mori decides,
18:45I'm going to crush these guys.
18:46I'm going to out
18:47mafia the mafia
18:48in terms of violence
18:49and tactics
18:51and brutality.
18:54Mori is swift
18:55and ruthless,
18:56sweeping through Sicily
18:58and arresting over 500 men
19:00within the first two months
19:01of the campaign.
19:02But it's the methods
19:04he employs
19:04in the criminal stronghold
19:06at Ganji
19:06that will go on
19:07to earn him
19:08another nickname,
19:09the Iron Prefect.
19:11The Siege of Ganji
19:13which takes place
19:13in 1926
19:14is the classic example
19:16of what he does.
19:16He'll take women
19:17and children hostages
19:18in order to force people
19:19to surrender
19:20but he wanted to shame
19:21the mafia.
19:22He would burn their crops,
19:24kill their cattle.
19:26He would also use torture,
19:27a method called
19:28the caseta,
19:29a small box
19:30where the man was tied,
19:32soaked with brine
19:33and then whipped
19:34in order to get a confession.
19:36He wanted to show
19:37the Sicilian people
19:39that the mafia
19:40was not the only
19:40tough organization
19:41on the block.
19:44Over the course
19:45of Mori's violent campaign
19:46against the mafia,
19:48some 11,000
19:49suspected mafiosi
19:50are arrested.
19:52All these mafia suspects
19:54would be rounded up,
19:56they'd be put in cages,
19:58in courts,
19:59photographed,
20:00most importantly,
20:01and the stories
20:02put in the papers.
20:04Mussolini was a figure
20:06who wanted to be themed
20:07to do things really
20:08and so the purge
20:09against the mafia
20:10was a story
20:11that went round the world.
20:14Now,
20:15this became an object lesson
20:17for the younger mafiosi
20:19who could see
20:20that the future
20:21in Sicily
20:21was very dangerous
20:23and almost non-existent
20:24and it led
20:25to an illegal exit.
20:29This exodus
20:30sees many of the mafiosi
20:32flee the onslaught
20:33and seek a new life
20:34in New York City.
20:35Here they encounter
20:37a tough young gangster
20:38who is radically shaping
20:40the future face
20:41of organised crime,
20:42Charles Lucky Luciano.
20:44The same gangster
20:46who 20 years later
20:47will play a crucial role
20:49in the Allies' assault
20:50against Mussolini.
20:59May 1942.
21:01Six years into
21:02a 30-year minimum jail term,
21:05mob kingpin
21:06Charles Lucky Luciano
21:07is collaborating
21:08from his cell
21:09with the United States
21:10government's war effort
21:11to fight
21:12against the fascists.
21:15Luciano
21:16has a reputation
21:17as one of the most
21:18feared gangsters
21:18in America
21:19despite being incarcerated.
21:22and he has come
21:22a long way
21:23from his humble origins
21:24on the streets
21:24of New York City.
21:30Lucky Luciano's career
21:32was the quintessential
21:34success story
21:35of a major mobster
21:36in America.
21:39Lucky came to the U.S.
21:41as an immigrant
21:41from Sicily
21:43at the age of nine.
21:44His parents
21:45were peasants
21:46and he was totally
21:48uninterested in school
21:49and he dropped out
21:51at 14
21:51and almost immediately
21:53began a life
21:54of primitive crime.
21:56He started up
21:56with street assaults,
21:58shaking down
21:59the vendors,
22:00burglaries,
22:00anything that he could
22:01pick up a buck.
22:05On the bustling streets
22:07of the Lower East Side,
22:08Lucky,
22:08then going by
22:09his given name
22:10of Salvatore Luciano,
22:12gets perfect
22:12on-the-job training
22:13for his future life
22:15as a crime boss.
22:17Here,
22:18he encounters
22:19young Jewish criminal
22:20Mayor Lansky
22:21in what will be
22:22his most significant
22:23and long-lasting
22:24underworld connection.
22:27Luciano and Lansky
22:28met as kids,
22:29basically.
22:30In fact,
22:30Luciano was actually
22:32mugging Lansky
22:33and Lansky said,
22:34you can go sticky.
22:36Luciano admired
22:37Mayor Lansky's
22:38toughness
22:39and thinking abilities.
22:41Luciano looks at Lansky
22:42and says,
22:42I don't really care
22:43if you're Jewish,
22:44you're not Sicilian,
22:45I don't care.
22:46You've got a brilliant
22:46business mind,
22:47you're tough,
22:48you think well
22:49on your feet,
22:49I'm keeping you around,
22:51we're going to work together
22:52and both of us
22:53are going to get rich.
22:56Luciano,
22:57with his new associate
22:58Lansky by his side,
22:59has a speedy rise
23:00within the underworld.
23:02Both are recruited
23:03to the infamous
23:04Five Points Gang,
23:05where they come
23:06to the attention
23:06of Giuseppe Masseria,
23:08otherwise known
23:09as Joe the Boss.
23:11Joe Masseria
23:12was a very stout,
23:14portly person,
23:16although he was
23:16fast on his feet
23:17and he was a trigger man.
23:19A lot of people
23:19wouldn't mess with him,
23:20very tough.
23:21Lucky Luciano
23:22becomes a gunman.
23:24Joe the Boss
23:25uses him
23:26to shoot rivals
23:27and he gets
23:28that fearless reputation
23:30for extreme violence,
23:31which means
23:32he can step up.
23:35and step up,
23:37he does.
23:39By January 1920,
23:40Luciano is 22 years old
23:42and one of Masseria's
23:43top lieutenants.
23:46His ascent
23:47is timed perfectly
23:48as the American government
23:50votes to pass a law
23:51that hands organised crime
23:52its biggest opportunity
23:54for growth to date,
23:56prohibition.
23:58Prohibition was fundamental
24:00for the explosion
24:03of organised crime.
24:04You've just taken
24:05one of the most
24:07lucrative businesses
24:09and you've put it
24:10into the hands
24:11of gangsters.
24:13The illegal distilling,
24:15shipping and supplying
24:16of liquor
24:16is a gravy train
24:17for the gangs of New York.
24:19But in 1925,
24:21a wave of mafiosi
24:22fleeing Mussolini
24:23arrives from Sicily
24:25and with them
24:26comes Salvatore Maranzano
24:27from Castellamare del Golfo.
24:30His traditional sensibilities
24:32and desire for power
24:33are crucial
24:34in shaping
24:35the American mafia
24:36and put him
24:37on a collision course
24:38with Joe the boss
24:39and his top lieutenant,
24:40Lucky Luciano.
24:41Maranzano
24:42was a very commanding figure,
24:44very tall,
24:45physically powerful
24:46and he immediately
24:47set up his own family
24:49called the Castellamarese gangsters
24:52and they became
24:53a rival force
24:54to Joe the boss.
24:56The rivalry came
24:58to a head
24:58in 1930.
25:01Masseria decided
25:03that it was time
25:04for him to organize
25:05and become the boss
25:07of all the Italian gangs
25:09in New York.
25:10The one person
25:11who stood up to him
25:12was Salvatore Maranzano.
25:15Now this ignited
25:17a bloody war
25:19that lasted for more
25:20than a year.
25:27Dozens of victims
25:28were killed or wounded.
25:32The result of this
25:34Castellamarese war
25:35was a lot of bodies
25:36on the street.
25:37That's not good
25:39for business
25:39and so really people
25:41like Luciano
25:42and Lansky
25:43who was always one
25:43for being very discreet
25:45thought we've got to
25:46get rid of these
25:47firebrand leaders.
25:49In April 1931,
25:52Luciano targets
25:53his own employer
25:54luring Joe the boss
25:55to a Coney Island restaurant.
25:58Following the meal,
26:00while Lucky is in the bathroom,
26:02four Jewish hitmen arrive
26:03and shoot Masseria dead.
26:08The war is over.
26:14So now
26:15one of the two
26:16big leaders was gone.
26:18The only two big men
26:19left were Lucky Luciano
26:20and Salvatore Maranzano.
26:24And it didn't take long
26:26for Lucky to figure out
26:28that Maranzano
26:29was also somebody
26:31he couldn't trust.
26:33Believing he's won the war,
26:35Maranzano seeks
26:36total domination
26:37of the underworld.
26:38He organizes
26:39the Italian gangs
26:40of New York
26:41into the five families,
26:42declaring himself
26:43boss of all bosses
26:44and puts a contract
26:46out on Luciano.
26:48But in September 1931,
26:51Lucky and Lansky
26:51strike first,
26:53hiring a gang
26:54of Jewish hitmen
26:54to murder Maranzano
26:56in his office.
27:02Charles Lucky Luciano
27:04is now the most powerful
27:05gangster in America.
27:07He calls a meeting
27:08of all the families
27:09where he explains
27:10his one philosophy.
27:11The protection
27:12of the organization
27:13is paramount.
27:15To ensure this,
27:16he sets up
27:17the commission.
27:17The commission
27:18was the equivalent
27:19of the board
27:20of directors.
27:21It would consist
27:22of five New York families
27:24and two or three
27:25other families,
27:26Chicago, Buffalo,
27:27and they would rule
27:29on any conflicts
27:31between different families.
27:33And they would also rule
27:34on what the mafia
27:35would do.
27:36The theory was
27:37that the new mafia
27:39in America
27:40would be a carbon copy
27:42of American capitalism.
27:44So Luciano
27:45saw the future.
27:46He was in effect
27:48a mastermind.
27:50So in a single meeting,
27:52the American mafia
27:53was born.
28:00Luciano is at the height
28:02of his powers,
28:03a multimillionaire mob boss
28:04within a secure
28:05criminal empire.
28:06Yet the mafia's fortunes
28:08quickly turn sour.
28:10Franklin D. Roosevelt
28:12is elected president
28:13in March 1933
28:14and immediately brings
28:16an end to prohibition.
28:18The end of prohibition
28:20brought the end
28:21to a massive cash cow.
28:24And Luciano
28:25and Lansing in particular
28:26were really looking
28:27at other forms
28:28of racketeering
28:29to make money.
28:31They moved into
28:32the sex business.
28:34Luciano wanted brothels
28:35as a chain store,
28:36so he was looking
28:37at making this
28:38a big thing.
28:40As Lucky looks to expand,
28:42the game is up.
28:43In 1935,
28:44the New York authorities
28:45conduct their first
28:46real crackdown
28:47on the mafia,
28:48spearheaded by
28:49special prosecutor
28:50Thomas Dewey
28:51and his prime target,
28:53Luciano himself.
28:55Tom Dewey decided
28:57to investigate
28:58the New York brothels.
29:00There were over
29:00a hundred of them.
29:01And telephone taps
29:03came up with a
29:04bonanza of evidence
29:05against Lucky.
29:08In 1936,
29:10Dewey got an indictment
29:11against Lucky
29:13for aiding
29:14and embedding
29:14prostitution.
29:15And they went to trial.
29:17And Lucky
29:18was convicted
29:19and sentenced
29:20to a minimum term
29:21of 30 years
29:23to a maximum
29:24of 50 years.
29:25His outlook
29:26was very,
29:27very bleak.
29:29And it remains bleak
29:31until Commander
29:32Haffenden
29:32of U.S.
29:33Naval Intelligence
29:34came calling
29:35six years later.
29:37New York, 1943,
29:39and the East Coast
29:41docks remain secure
29:42thanks to Luciano's
29:43involvement
29:43in Operation Underworld.
29:46In light of his
29:47cooperation
29:48with the war effort,
29:49a motion is put
29:50before the court
29:51to have Lucky's
29:52sentence reduced,
29:53but it's denied.
29:55The judge hints,
29:56however,
29:57that further assistance
29:58with the war effort
29:59may improve
30:00his chances
30:00of a future appeal.
30:02Almost immediately,
30:03an opportunity
30:04presents itself.
30:06Having defeated
30:07the Axis powers
30:08in Africa,
30:09the Allies
30:10are on the offensive.
30:11Their next target...
30:16Sicily.
30:20America,
30:21World War II.
30:23By January 1943,
30:25imprisoned Mafia boss
30:27Charles Lucky Luciano
30:28has been aiding
30:29U.S. military intelligence
30:30for almost a year,
30:32yet all he has to show
30:33for it has been a move
30:34to a minimum security prison.
30:37But developing events
30:38in Europe look to offer
30:39Luciano another chance
30:40to assist the war effort.
30:45The fight against
30:47Axis powers
30:47in North Africa
30:48has been bearing fruit.
30:50This encourages
30:51the Allied leaders
30:52to form a new strategy.
30:55Churchill said to Roosevelt
30:57that I think we should
30:58invade the soft
30:59underbelly
31:00of the fascist
31:01Nazi empire.
31:03And so they thought
31:04Sicily would be
31:05a good way
31:05of invading Europe.
31:08Operation Husky
31:09is fledged
31:10and this plan
31:11is to take
31:11the U.S. 7th Army
31:13and the British 8th Army,
31:14hit Sicily
31:15in the south
31:16and push the German
31:17divisions
31:17and the Italian divisions
31:18that are there
31:19out of Sicily
31:20back to the mainland.
31:22The planning of Operation Husky
31:24is underway.
31:25Roosevelt has communicated
31:27to Churchill
31:27that due to close
31:28cultural ties
31:29between the United States
31:30and Italy
31:31the invasion
31:32should have a distinctly
31:33American flavor
31:34and General Eisenhower
31:36is appointed
31:36Commander-in-Chief
31:37of the offensive.
31:39But the U.S. military's
31:41first-hand knowledge
31:41of Sicily
31:42is thin.
31:44Using his Operation
31:45Underworld Contacts
31:46Commander Haffenden
31:48looks to gather
31:48intelligence
31:49from some of the
31:49many Italian immigrants
31:51already in the country.
31:53You have 6 million
31:54Italian Americans
31:54in the United States
31:55many of which
31:56are Sicilians.
31:57You wanted their maps,
31:58you wanted their photographs,
31:59you wanted their diaries,
32:00you want to know
32:01about ports,
32:02you want to know
32:02about mountain passes
32:04and open roads.
32:05Haffenden and other guys
32:07try to approach
32:08these people
32:08and meet a brick wall.
32:11Haffenden turns
32:12to Luciano
32:12who immediately
32:13gives his blessing
32:14for the Italian Americans
32:15to assist
32:16in Operation Husky
32:17and a steady stream
32:19of Sicilian migrants
32:20arrive at naval
32:21intelligence offices
32:22to answer questions
32:23about the old country.
32:25The information
32:27gathered by Operation
32:29Underworld
32:29was very important.
32:31They got a lot
32:32of information
32:32on the coastline
32:34and the ports
32:35and really how things work.
32:37Not only do they give
32:38information about the terrain,
32:40by talking to these
32:41newly arrived Sicilians,
32:43you got a sense
32:43of how the mafia
32:44operated in Sicily
32:46even though it was
32:47supposed to be destroyed.
32:48They are also telling,
32:49all right, look,
32:50Sicilians have this
32:51innate love
32:52of the United States
32:53of America.
32:54The Americans
32:55are now realizing
32:56that maybe
32:57we will have
32:58a friendly populace
32:59that will greet us
33:00and it's because
33:01of the informants.
33:03Whilst the information
33:04is being gathered,
33:05Luciano surprises
33:06Haffenden
33:07by proposing
33:07that he himself
33:08should participate
33:09in the military offensive.
33:11He suggested
33:12that he should be
33:13parachuted in
33:14to Sicily
33:15and that he should
33:16lead a fifth column
33:17of Sicilians
33:18against the Germans
33:19and the fascists.
33:21Unbelievable.
33:22Haffenden says,
33:24yes,
33:24I think we should do that.
33:27Convinced that Luciano's
33:28reputation carries
33:29enough weight in Sicily,
33:31Commander Haffenden
33:32argues the case
33:33for Lucky,
33:34insisting he be pardoned
33:35and sent to Sicily
33:36in advance of the invasion
33:37to rally local support.
33:39His request
33:41is denied.
33:44Sifting through
33:45all the material gathered,
33:47Haffenden reports
33:48all movements
33:49of Operation Underworld
33:50to Washington.
33:51Soon after,
33:52a draft document
33:53of a new plan
33:54emerges from
33:55the Joint Chiefs of Staff
33:56called the Special Military Plan
33:58for Psychological Warfare
33:59in Sicily.
34:01It bears a striking resemblance
34:03to Lucky's
34:03fifth column proposal.
34:06Officially,
34:07the involvement of the Mafia
34:08in Operation Husky
34:09was denied,
34:10but a document
34:11of this plan
34:11is later discovered,
34:12proving it was
34:13a very real alliance.
34:15The intent of the plan
34:16is very simple.
34:17We're going to approach
34:18dissident elements
34:19in Sicily
34:20and the Sicilian Mafia.
34:22We're going to create
34:23a fifth column
34:24of pro-allied forces
34:26in Sicily
34:27so that they will
34:28help us in the invasion.
34:29We're going to contact
34:30those groups
34:31and we're going to arm them.
34:32We're going to tell them
34:33to blow up targets.
34:35So therefore,
34:36they will make
34:36the invasion easier.
34:38The plan
34:40actually works its way
34:41at the chain.
34:42It's amazing.
34:43And it gets the approval
34:44of the Joint Chiefs
34:45and it gets Eisenhower's approval.
34:48This is a document
34:49I found
34:49in the National Archives
34:51and it was passed
34:53to the U.S. Chiefs of Staff.
34:55Eisenhower saw this
34:56and it very directly says
34:59that the U.S. forces
35:01can work with
35:03clandestine forces,
35:04basically,
35:05and that includes
35:06the Mafia
35:06and that they were
35:07to give them guns
35:08and explosives
35:09to carry out sabotage.
35:12Certainly,
35:13no one could say
35:14that the U.S. Chiefs of Staff
35:16did not know
35:17about working
35:18with the Mafia.
35:23The 9th of July, 1943.
35:26Operation Husky begins.
35:36The British and Canadian armies
35:38attack to the east
35:39while the Americans
35:40take the island
35:40from the south.
35:42The information
35:43supplied by Luciano
35:45and his Mafia associates
35:46proves vital
35:47to the success
35:48of the operation
35:48and intelligence officers
35:50use his name
35:51as a code word
35:52when communicating
35:53with the local population
35:54and mafiosi.
35:58By mid-August,
35:59total victory
36:00on the island
36:01is achieved.
36:02Operation Husky
36:03is a major success,
36:05leading directly
36:06to the fall
36:06of Mussolini in Italy
36:07and providing the platform
36:09for the Allied push
36:10into Central Europe.
36:13In the aftermath
36:14of the invasion,
36:15stories of Lucky's involvement
36:17emerge on both sides
36:18of the Atlantic.
36:20The most striking
36:21is from Don Calovicini,
36:23a local Sicilian Mafia boss
36:24who during the conflict
36:26recovers a package
36:27from a passing U.S. plane
36:28which contains
36:29a yellow pendant
36:30with a black L,
36:32the sign for Luciano.
36:35At the time,
36:36the U.S. forces
36:37were faced
36:38in a major confrontation
36:40with German
36:40and Italian troops
36:42at the nearby
36:42Monte Camarata.
36:44and so Don Calo,
36:46once he saw this L,
36:49he sent his henchmen
36:51off to have a word
36:52with the Italian soldiers.
36:54And the very next day,
36:56it said,
36:57these Italians disappeared,
36:59leaving only a handful
37:00of Germans.
37:01The Germans had to withdraw
37:03and this is shown
37:05to be an example
37:06of how Luciano's name
37:08could really make
37:10Italian troops disappear.
37:12The information gathered
37:14by Hafen and his group
37:15was extremely important
37:17and you would have
37:17never gotten that
37:18without Luciano saying,
37:20I give my approval.
37:24Luciano and his contacts
37:26helps us to win the war.
37:29Without him,
37:30it would have been
37:31much more difficult struggle
37:33to get the island
37:34and to move on
37:36to the Italian campaign.
37:38This collaboration
37:39with the mob
37:40has provided ammunition
37:41for the Allies' victory.
37:43But for the people of Sicily,
37:44it will prove
37:45a double-edged sword.
37:47With the fall of the fascists
37:49come major consequences.
37:51Despite Mussolini's attempts
37:53to crush the Mafia,
37:54they have been waiting
37:55in the shadows
37:56and now they have the chance
37:58to re-emerge.
38:03The Allied invasion of Sicily
38:05in July 1943
38:06strikes a major blow
38:08against the Axis powers
38:09and is decisive
38:10in bringing down Mussolini.
38:13In planning the invasion,
38:15U.S. naval intelligence
38:16had been covertly assisted
38:17by Sicilian mob boss
38:19Lucky Luciano,
38:20who remains languishing
38:21in Great Meadows Prison,
38:23New York.
38:24While the information
38:25he supplied
38:26helps the Allies
38:27liberate Sicily,
38:28the aftermath
38:29has opened the door
38:30for the Mafia
38:31on the island
38:32to return to prominence.
38:36The Allies,
38:37especially the Americans,
38:39were very naive
38:39after the occupation
38:41of Sicily
38:41and driving out
38:42the Germans
38:42and the fascists.
38:44They were looking
38:45for people
38:45to replace
38:46the fascist administrators
38:48and they mistakenly believed
38:51that all these mafiosi
38:52who'd been imprisoned
38:54were progressive
38:56democratic supporters.
38:58The people
38:59running the invasion,
39:01especially the Allied
39:02military government
39:02of occupied territories,
39:03AMGOT,
39:05didn't have the same level
39:06of knowledge
39:06about the Sicilians
39:07as the people involved
39:08in Operation Underworld.
39:10So these officers
39:11want somebody
39:13to run the town,
39:14to keep order.
39:14So right away,
39:16Don Carlo Vizzini,
39:18for the example,
39:19is picked in Villalba.
39:20He's influential,
39:22he's wealthy,
39:23and who better
39:24to have
39:25anti-fascist credentials
39:26than a head
39:27of a mafia?
39:28So now you get
39:29these mafia guys
39:30in power.
39:30And as they become
39:31mayors of these towns,
39:33then this gives them
39:35the ability
39:36to control
39:36the black market
39:37in grain and food.
39:39It gives them
39:40ability, again,
39:40we're back to
39:41the same old story,
39:41patronage.
39:42It gives them
39:43ability to control
39:44land disputes.
39:46The mafia then
39:47ingraves itself
39:48into the political
39:50structure.
39:50And in classic
39:52mafia fashion,
39:53it controls
39:54the economy
39:55both through
39:57illegal means
39:58and through
40:00legal means
40:00by getting
40:01its political
40:02friends
40:03into position
40:05in controlling
40:06the vital organs
40:08of the Sicilian
40:10economy.
40:11The mafia,
40:12once again,
40:13become the most
40:13powerful force
40:14in Sicily
40:15and they control
40:16the island's fate
40:18until about the
40:191990s.
40:20They're back.
40:23In 1945,
40:25as the fate of Sicily
40:26is transferred
40:26from the hands
40:27of one enemy
40:28into another,
40:29the war comes
40:30to an end.
40:31Spotting a chance,
40:33Lucky Luciano
40:33makes another bid
40:34for freedom.
40:36Lucky asked the
40:38New York State
40:39parole board
40:40to commute
40:41due to sentence.
40:42Now, ironically,
40:43the man who had
40:44convicted him
40:45was Thomas Dewey.
40:46Tom Dewey
40:47was the governor
40:48of New York
40:49in 1945.
40:51When the issue
40:52came to him,
40:53he had to rely
40:54on outside agencies
40:55to tell him
40:56what Luciano
40:57had done.
40:58The Navy
40:59was embarrassed
41:00and in effect
41:01double-crossed Lucky.
41:03they denied
41:04that he had
41:05done anything.
41:06Despite this setback,
41:08Luciano's lawyers
41:09turned to New York
41:10District Attorney
41:11Frank Hogan,
41:12who confirms
41:13Lucky's involvement
41:14in Operation Underworld
41:15and participation
41:16in the war effort
41:17to Thomas Dewey.
41:19With the mobster's
41:20assistance verified,
41:21his sentence
41:22is commuted.
41:23Lucky Luciano
41:25wins his freedom,
41:26but there are
41:26strict conditions.
41:28What Dewey did
41:30was he commuted
41:31the sentence
41:32to time served,
41:34but with the proviso
41:35that since Lucky
41:37was not an American
41:38citizen,
41:39he would be
41:40instantly deported.
41:42And if he ever
41:43returned,
41:44he would be
41:45considered
41:46an escaped prisoner
41:47and would have to
41:48fulfill
41:49the whole 50 years.
41:54In February 1946,
41:56Charles Lucky Luciano
41:58is released from prison
41:59and boards a ship
42:00to Naples,
42:01where he will live
42:02out the rest
42:02of his days.
42:06He is forbidden
42:07to return
42:07to his beloved
42:08United States
42:09and will never again
42:11set foot
42:11on American soil.
42:17As one of the
42:18most powerful
42:19and notorious
42:20gangsters
42:20in the nation,
42:22Luciano's release
42:23instantly raises
42:24questions,
42:25most notably
42:26with the FBI,
42:27led by the tenacious
42:28J. Edgar Hoover.
42:30When Luciano
42:31was released
42:32in 1946,
42:33it was made
42:34very clear
42:35it was because
42:36he had helped
42:36the US government
42:37with the war.
42:39But at the time,
42:40nothing more
42:41was said.
42:42And this drove
42:43the FBI
42:44crazy.
42:46Hoover
42:46couldn't stand
42:47the idea
42:48that he didn't know
42:49about what was
42:50going on here.
42:51Suspecting corruption,
42:53the FBI opens
42:54an investigation
42:55and immediately
42:56looks at
42:56intelligence commander
42:57Charles Haffenden.
42:59They discover
43:00that since the end
43:01of the war,
43:02he's developed
43:02a close relationship
43:03with Luciano's
43:04mob associate,
43:05Frank Costello.
43:07Their subsequent reports
43:08cast doubt
43:09over Haffenden's
43:10motives during
43:11Operation Underworld,
43:12effectively ending
43:13his career.
43:14We know Haffenden
43:16played golf
43:17with Frank Costello
43:18and Frank Costello's
43:19job in the Mafia
43:20was to play golf
43:21with politicians
43:22and functionaries
43:24like Haffenden.
43:25He was the hinge
43:27between the Mafia
43:28and politics.
43:29We can't be quite sure
43:31about Haffenden's
43:33motives.
43:34He could just
43:35be a crook.
43:36He could just
43:37have taken
43:37a big bribe.
43:39According to
43:40the records
43:41that Hoover
43:42was given,
43:42Costello
43:43was the one
43:44who had started
43:45the operation,
43:45was the link
43:46to Luciano,
43:47was the link
43:47to Haffenden.
43:48And so therefore,
43:49Hoover said,
43:50you can't have it.
43:50This guy's running
43:51around mobsters here.
43:52We can't have that stuff.
43:53So Haffenden
43:54is removed
43:55from his position
43:56because of
43:57political pressure.
43:59Once Hoover
44:00gets the whole story,
44:01he's irate.
44:02And of course,
44:02he has the famous
44:03quote of,
44:04this seems like
44:05a big abuse
44:06of power
44:06for a single mobster.
44:08I'm surprised
44:09he didn't give
44:10Luciano the Navy Cross.
44:12With Haffenden
44:13gone,
44:14Luciano deported
44:15and all naval
44:16intelligence records
44:17deliberately destroyed.
44:18For years,
44:19conspiracy theories
44:20persisted
44:20that the whole
44:21chain of events
44:22was an elaborate
44:23mafia plan.
44:24That to spring
44:25Luciano from prison,
44:26the mafia themselves
44:27had sabotaged
44:28the SS Normandy.
44:30Later investigations
44:32conclusively proved
44:33that the catalyst
44:34for this unholy
44:35alliance between
44:35the US government
44:36and the Sicilian mafia
44:37was simply
44:38an accident.
44:39no one had
44:41sabotaged
44:42the Normandy.
44:43I think it was
44:44the timing
44:44of the burning
44:45of SS Normandy
44:47that really played
44:48into Lucky Luciano's
44:49hands.
44:50It was a major
44:50break for him
44:51because even though
44:52a lot of people
44:52said this is
44:53sabotage,
44:54it seems very clear
44:55that an investigation
44:56showed it was
44:57a pure accident.
45:00Two months
45:00after Pearl Harbor,
45:02everyone was
45:03crazy.
45:05Commander Haffenden
45:06was happy to talk
45:07to anyone
45:08as he said
45:08he'd talk
45:09to the devil
45:09himself.
45:10But of course
45:11for Luciano
45:12it was great
45:13timing.
45:16The best evidence
45:17was that it
45:18was an accident.
45:19So the irony
45:20is all this effort,
45:23all this planning
45:24and Lucky Luciano's
45:27great break
45:28to get out of prison
45:29all occurred
45:30because of poor
45:31workmanship,
45:33not sabotage.
45:37or
45:41anything
45:43has
45:47Everyone
45:47is
45:47I'm the one
45:47who
45:48Do you
45:54Do you
45:59Do you
46:00Do you
46:03Do you
46:21Legenda Adriana Zanotto
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