Ignacio Antinori
Encyclopedia
Ignacio Antinori was a Italy-born Florida
mobster who built one of the earlier narcotics trafficking networks in that state. Antinori was regarded as the first boss of the Tampa crime family, later known as the Trafficante crime family
.
n heroin traffickers and American Mafia bosses. Antinori established a drug pipeline from Marseille, France through Cuba
into Tampa, Florida
. According to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
, the drugs were subsequently distributed in the Midwestern United States
, primarily through St. Louis
mobster Thomas Buffa and Kansas City
mobsters Nicolo Impostato, James DeSimone
and Joseph Deluca
.
Law enforcement soon began to concentrate on Antinori's operation. In addition, mobsters such as Florida mobster Santo Trafficante, Sr.
soon set up rival smuggling rings. Antinori was eventually eclipsed by Trafficante, who held his own strong connections to Mangano crime family boss Vincent Mangano
and Profaci crime family boss Joseph Profaci in New York.
and Antinori, who fought each other while also jockeying with Santo Trafficante Sr. (who got his criminal start in the Antinori family) for control of the illegal numbers rackets in the Tampa area. The feud between Wall and Antinori came to a violent head between factions of Antinori Gang, dissatified members of Chicago and St.Louis criminal outfits to whom Antinori was suppiying narcotics, and Wall's crew.
. Antinori had sent the Outfit a poor-quality shipment of narcotics. When the Outfit complained, Antinori refused a refund; at that point, the Outfit put a murder contract on Antinori. Some within the organized crime ranks in Tampa suspected that Wall, who had survived a hit attempt on his life possibly made by the Kansas City outfit linked to Antinori earler that spring, may have been linked to Antinori's murder.
After Antinori's death, all of his rackets and most of his criminal holdings, which included the bolita rackets, were seized by Santo Trafficante, Sr.
, who was once part of his crime family as an underling, then a capo, and became the new boss of Antinori's crime family. In 1955, Wall would fall victim to assassins at his Tampa home. One or more assassins brutalized the retired mobster, bludgeoning him with a baseball bat and slitting his throat. While the murder was never solved, many, including the police, suspected that Santo Trafficante, Jr.
may have been linked to the crime, in retaliation for the death of Antinori.
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
mobster who built one of the earlier narcotics trafficking networks in that state. Antinori was regarded as the first boss of the Tampa crime family, later known as the Trafficante crime family
Trafficante crime family
The Trafficante crime family better known as the Tampa Mafia, is the only original Mafia crime family in the state of Florida.-Tampa's underworld:...
.
Criminal career
Although much of his early life is unknown, the Sicilian born Antinori, whose family emigrated to the United States when he was eighteeen, was one of the first mobsters to emerge in Florida during the Prohibition era. By the 1930s, Antinori was one of the largest heroin traffickers in the country, with close ties to French-CorsicaCorsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
n heroin traffickers and American Mafia bosses. Antinori established a drug pipeline from Marseille, France through Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
into Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
. According to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Federal Bureau of Narcotics
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was an agency of the United States Department of the Treasury. Established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 consolidating the functions of the Federal Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotic Division...
, the drugs were subsequently distributed in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, primarily through St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
mobster Thomas Buffa and Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
mobsters Nicolo Impostato, James DeSimone
James DeSimone
During the fourteen years that G.I. Joe had not existed as a 12 inch action figure, James DeSimone had been touring different toy shows all over the United States buying and selling G.I. Joe action figures. In the mid-1980s, DeSimone created the G.I. Joe Collectors Club, which was a...
and Joseph Deluca
Joseph Deluca
Joseph DeLuca was an Italian-American mobster who controlled the smuggling and distribution of narcotics with his brother Frank Deluca in Kansas City, Missouri for almost four decades....
.
Law enforcement soon began to concentrate on Antinori's operation. In addition, mobsters such as Florida mobster Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr.-Early life:...
soon set up rival smuggling rings. Antinori was eventually eclipsed by Trafficante, who held his own strong connections to Mangano crime family boss Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano , born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano, also known as "The Executioner" as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper, was the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and de facto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which...
and Profaci crime family boss Joseph Profaci in New York.
Turf feud with Charlie Wall
During the late 1920s, a turf war began between Tampa-born southern mobster Charlie WallCharlie Wall
Charles McKay "Charlie" Wall was an American businessman and organized crime figure who was a rival of reputed mobsters Santo Trafficante, Sr, and Santo Trafficante, Jr. The son of distinguished physician and civic leader John P...
and Antinori, who fought each other while also jockeying with Santo Trafficante Sr. (who got his criminal start in the Antinori family) for control of the illegal numbers rackets in the Tampa area. The feud between Wall and Antinori came to a violent head between factions of Antinori Gang, dissatified members of Chicago and St.Louis criminal outfits to whom Antinori was suppiying narcotics, and Wall's crew.
Antinori's death and aftermath
On October 23, 1940, Antinori was sipping coffee at the Palm Garden Inn in Tampa with a friend and a young female companion when suddenly a gunman appeared and fired two shotgun blasts at Antinori, blowing off the back of his head. The gunman was allegedly sent by one of Antinori's dissatisfied customers, the Chicago OutfitChicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
. Antinori had sent the Outfit a poor-quality shipment of narcotics. When the Outfit complained, Antinori refused a refund; at that point, the Outfit put a murder contract on Antinori. Some within the organized crime ranks in Tampa suspected that Wall, who had survived a hit attempt on his life possibly made by the Kansas City outfit linked to Antinori earler that spring, may have been linked to Antinori's murder.
After Antinori's death, all of his rackets and most of his criminal holdings, which included the bolita rackets, were seized by Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr.
Santo Trafficante, Sr. was a Sicilian-born mobster, and father of the powerful mobster Santo Trafficante, Jr.-Early life:...
, who was once part of his crime family as an underling, then a capo, and became the new boss of Antinori's crime family. In 1955, Wall would fall victim to assassins at his Tampa home. One or more assassins brutalized the retired mobster, bludgeoning him with a baseball bat and slitting his throat. While the murder was never solved, many, including the police, suspected that Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr.
Santo Trafficante, Jr. was one of the last of the old-time Mafia bosses in the United States. He allegedly controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba, which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante, Sr...
may have been linked to the crime, in retaliation for the death of Antinori.
External links
- American Mafia.com The KC/Tampa Drug Connection By Scott M. Deitche