The French Connection was an infamous scheme through which the drug heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States, culminating in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the heroin consumed in the United States. Heroin, also known as diamorphine (BAN) or diacetylmorphine (INN), is a semi-synthetic opioid. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

From the 1930s to the 1950s

Illegal heroin labs were first discovered near Marseille, France, in 1937. These labs were run by the legendary Corsican gang leader Paul Carbone. For years, the Corsican underworld had been involved in the manufacturing and trafficking of illegal heroin abroad, primarily in the United States. It was this heroin network that eventually became known as the "French Connection". City flag Coat of arms Motto: By her great deeds, Marseille shines in the world Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Département Bouches-du-Rhône (13) Subdivisions 16 arrondissements (in 8 secteurs) Intercommunality Urban Community of... Capital Ajaccio Land area¹ 8,680 km² President of the Executive Council Ange Santini (UMP) (since 2004) Population   - Jan. ...

The Corsican Mafia was closely allied with the CIA and the SDECE after World War II in order to prevent the French communists from bringing the port of Marseille under their control. The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... The Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service, SDECE) was Frances external intelligence agency from November 6, 1944 to April 2, 1982 when it was replaced by the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ...

Historically, the raw material for most of the heroin consumed in the United States came from Turkey. Turkish farmers were licensed to grow opium poppy for sale to legal drug companies, but many sold their excess to the underworld market, where it was manufactured into heroin and transported to the United States. It was refined in Corsican laboratories in Marseille, one of the busiest ports in the western Mediterranean. Marseille served as a perfect shipping point for all types of illegal goods, including the excess opium that Turkish farmers cultivated for profit. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

The convenience of the port at Marseille and the frequent arrival of ships from opium-producing countries made it easy to smuggle the morphine base to Marseille from the Far East or the Near East. The French underground would then ship large quantities of heroin from Marseille to New York City. The French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements during World War II which fought the German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime, after the government and the high command of France surrendered in 1940. ... Nickname: Big Apple; City that never Sleeps; Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Manhattan Queens Brooklyn Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ...

The first significant post-World War II seizure was made in New York on February 5, 1947, when seven pounds of heroin were seized from a Corsican sailor disembarking from a vessel that had just arrived from France. February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

It soon became clear that the French underground was increasing not only its participation in the illegal trade of opium, but also its expertise and efficiency in heroin trafficking. On March 17, 1947, 28 pounds of heroin were found on the French liner, St. Tropez. On January 7, 1949, more than 50 pounds of opium and heroin were seized on the French ship, Batista. March 17 is the 76th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (77th in leap years). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ...

The 1960s

The first major French Connection case occurred in 1960. In June, an informant told a drug agent in Lebanon that Mauricio Rosal, the Guatemalan Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, was smuggling morphine base from Beirut, Lebanon, to Marseille. Narcotics agents had been seizing about 200 pounds of heroin in a typical year, but intelligence showed that the Corsican traffickers were smuggling in 200 pounds every other week. Rosal alone, in one year, had used his diplomatic status to bring in about 440 pounds. An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... Beirut ( translit: ) is the capital, largest city, and chief seaport of Lebanon. ...

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics's 1960 annual report estimated that from 2,600 to 5,000 pounds of heroin were coming into the United States annually from France. The French traffickers continued to exploit the demand for their illegal product, and by 1969, they were supplying the United States with 80 to 90 percent of its heroin. The heroin they supplied was approximately 85 percent pure. Amid evidence of corruption in 1929, the US Treasury Departments Narcotics Division collapsed and the following year Congress created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), still under the Treasury Deparment. ...

Because of this increasing volume, heroin became readily available throughout the United States. In an effort to limit the source, U.S. officials went to Turkey to negotiate the phasing out of opium production. Initially, the Turkish Government agreed to limit their opium production starting with the 1968 crop.

The 1970s and the dismantling of the French Connection

Following five subsequent years of concessions, combined with international cooperation, the Turkish government finally agreed in 1971 to a complete ban on the growing of Turkish opium, effective June 29, 1972. During these protracted negotiations, law enforcement personnel went into action. One of the major roundups began on January 4, 1972, when agents from the US Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and French authorities seized 110 pounds of heroin at the Paris airport. Subsequently, traffickers Jean-Baptiste Croce and Joseph Mari were arrested in Marseille. From a 1973 French Connection seizure in France, are 210 pounds of heroin worth $38 million . The Bureau of Narcotic and Dangerous Drugs directly preceded the Drug Enforcement Administration. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land...

In February 1972, French traffickers offered a US Army sergeant $96,000 to smuggle 240 pounds of heroin into the United States. He informed his superior who in turn notified the BNDD. As a result of this investigation, five men in New York and two in Paris were arrested with 264 pounds of heroin, which had a street value of $50 million. In a 14-month period, starting in February 1972, six major illicit heroin laboratories were seized and dismantled in the suburbs of Marseille by French national narcotics police in collaboration with U.S. drug agents. On February 29, 1972, French authorities seized the shrimp boat, Caprice des Temps, as it put to sea near Marseille heading towards Miami. It was carrying 415 kilos of heroin. Drug arrests in France skyrocketed from 57 in 1970 to 3,016 in 1972. Also broken up as part of this investigation was the crew of Luchese Family soldier Vincent Papa, whose members included Anthony Loria Sr., and Virgil Alessi. The well-organized gang was responsible for distributing millions of dollars in heroin up and down the East Coast during the early seventies, which in turn led to a major NYPD corruption scheme. The scope and depth of this scheme is still not known, but officials suspect it involved a corrupt NYPD officer/officers who allowed access to the NYPD property/evidence storage room, where hundreds of kilos of heroin lay seized from the now-infamous French Connection bust, and then replaced the missing heroin with white baking flour. The substitution was only discovered when officers noticed insects eating all the bags of "heroin". By that point an estimated street value of approximately $70 million worth of "smack" had already been taken. The racket was brought to light and arrests were made. Certain plotters received jail sentences, including Papa. (Papa was later assassinated in federal prison in Atlanta, Georgia; several conflicting reasons why have been suggested). The French Connection investigation demonstrated that international trafficking networks were best disabled by the combined efforts of drug enforcement agencies from multiple countries. In this case, agents from the United States, Canada, Italy, and France had worked together to achieve success. The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organisations around the world. ... This article is about the city in Florida. ... Vincent Papa - Vinnie Papa. Born and bread in Astoria, Queens NY. Papa was a major player in the famous French Connection herion scandal. ... Anthony Loria Sr. ... The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ... The word smack has a number of meanings: To strike with an open palm, such as to smack a child. ... This is a list of U.S. federal prisons. ... Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach, The ATL, A-Town Location in Fulton County in the state of Georgia Coordinates: Country United States State Georgia Counties Fulton, Dekalb Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Area    - City 343. ...

This text incorporates public domain material from the US Department of Justice. [1]