EPISODE · Sep 8, 2026 · 21 MIN
The Sicilian Shift: From the French Connection Collapse to Atlantic Heroin Rigs
from A History of the American Mafia Podcast: Organized Crime, Mob Families, Bosses, Gangsters, Prohibition, Criminal Trials, and the Rise of La Cosa Nostra · host Podily & Josh Linsk
This episode explores how, after law‑enforcement dismantled the French Connection’s Marseille‑based heroin pipeline in 1974, Sicilian Mafia operators re‑mapped transatlantic smuggling routes through southern Italian ports and New York’s waterfront. It details the logistics of refining, shipping, and distributing heroin from Sicily to U.S. markets; examines new alliances with American Five Families, Chicago Outfit, and Philadelphia families; and uncovers how federal investigations, undercover agents, informants, and evolving technology shifted power, money, and law‑enforcement strategies in the mid‑1970s heroin trade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Sicilian Shift: From the French Connection Collapse to Atlantic Heroin Rigs
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