BRAZILIAN GANGSTERS AND THEIR DRUG TRAFFIC

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 00023250
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: March 9, 2023
• Document Release Date: August 18, 2020
• Case Number: F-2019-01204
• Publication Date: November 8, 1972

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BPAZILIAN GANGSTERS AND THEIR DRUG TRAFFIC
(Article: Sao Paulo, Veja� Portuguese, 8 Nosvember 197'2, pp 21-232
The luggage of that tall, blondish man, appareroly in his forties, whom
the police had located In a small hotel in Feira de Santana, was not the ap-
propriate luggage for an Uruguayan diplomat vacationing in Bahia, as he at �
first tried to identify himself. Among fine label clothes contained in his
four suitcases he had one Browning pistol, one Eeret-..a, both equipped with .
silencers, one short-nose caliber .38 Smith & Wesson, loaded with dumdum .bul-
lets, tranquilizing darts, 63 9 mm bullets, 22 7.65 mm bullets, and 38 as-
sorted bullets, five pistol-loading cartridges; and five seals for *icrging
passports.
After being taken to Salvador the supposed diplomat tried to commit
suicide by cutting his wrists with a piece of glass. He was, however, res-
cued in time.
The diplomat turned out to be no diplomat at all. Likewise, the citi-
zen Roberto Cavalaro was not just simply the owner of a fleet of 250 taxicabs,
or a hot dog pushcarts distributing network, and of an aluminum window sash
plant in Sac Paulo. Cavalaro was not even his true name. His real identity
is Tomaso Bus cetta, and he an outlaw. Likewise, the former fashion model
Helena Ferreira who had mysteriously disappeared from Rio four months ago was
not dead as some had thought. She was under arrest. And Roberto Boboulours,
arrested approximately four months ago in Sac Paulo may, perhaps, not be just
simply the owner of a night club highly patronized by night life Frenchmen
stranded in Brazil. It has also been ascertained that Mr. Casalini, a resi-
dent of Tatniara Street in Rio, was not just simply the apartment house
manager and the engineer who was greatly interested in rabbit breeding.
News recently leaked out from the police precinct in Rio and Sao Paulo
disclosed the arrest of a pseudo diplomat, whose real identiy is the French-
man Christian-Jacques azia, de Casalini, de Boboulours, and of a considerable
number of people whose names are predominantly of a French or Italian extrac-
tion auch as Nicoli, Pastou,. Canazzi, Gigante -- and disclosed a search for
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a certain Mr Zippo, a resident of New York cn a businesa trip in Brazil.
began to unfold the very definite outles of a su-cessf-.:1 police opera-
tion which wasabull's-eye hit on an intern6tional druc poddlers'ring.
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The Adventurers
In four typewritten pages containing 127 lines cf e;.cit text. the
SUanebara Safety Isoreatr disclosed last Tuesday the pI?ver.t. arrest of several
dry* peddlers. The meterial.contained also a starthng bio7rica1 outline
of some of them, to which new information was miA!we..
Christian David is believed to be a krown Ften.:h gunman responsible for
the murder of several policemen and the author of iocredit2e deeds throughout
the world, among, which there is his one-tIme meeners!-.ip in t:e Trench Secret
Service,, services rendered to the Uruguayan Tupamaros, ane a leftist ter-
rorist group in Argentina. He is also believed to have partlalpatad in the
murder of the Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben parka, wt as kidnapped
and murdered in Paris in October 1965 under circumsta:xes stf.11 not explained
and of taking part in political attempts in Senegal, be air� accused of .
acting as a hired killer in half a dozen cocntries. It it further believed
that Christian, also known as "Beau Serge," had in add.iticn o..-.-n.7,ections with
6C-year old AugusteJcseph Ricord, who was arreste. in Isart7u:;1 in March of
last year and who is now at the Nassau Penitentiary: near 1..ew York, and is
considered by the "experts" on the war on drugs as tdle %.4..ng� in Whin
America.
Tomas� Buscetta, whose surname was printed by sone rcp4spapers as
Suschetta and discreetly omitted by Ibraim Sued bi his da:.17 TV programs
because he considered it inelegant, would be a prominent rem.r of the Ma-
fia's new generation line known as "Clean Hands," i.e., crlro:..nals who conceal
their activities behind commercial enterprises and regular businesses, among
which, in the case of Buscetta, a pizza parlor chain in New York, where he
lived for some time in a luxurious apartment in Ozone Park Drive, Queens.
At the beginning of the year, Tommaso Buscetta, Christian David, Nicoll
Mr Zippo, and a Lucien Sarti whose path by fate crossed with that of the for-
mer fashion model Helena Ferreira who became his mistress, met together for
several days, while staying as guests at the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio,
in order to decide how to make Brazil an important stopover on the troubled
heroin trail from the poppy fields in Turkey or in Southeast Asia to the con-
sumers in the United States.
Sarti, Nicoli, and David are supposed to have represented at this
meeting a mysterious gangster organization internationally known as Union
Corsa. It is believed that Buscetta and Zippo represented the Mafia.
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A "Brazilian Connection"
Lucien Sarti died recently in Mexico after shootout wit: the pc...iee.
It is probable, hpeever, that his survivors 'eatee really established here the
groendwork.to tern Brazil into a new "corneceen' that might replace the ever
rore closely witch-over city of Marseilles en Leeth France, from which erd
up to 3 or 4 years ego, at least 85 percent cf the drug from the East was
distributed. It is even possible that in Bratee: tee Union Corse, a Mafie-like
organization born on the barren hills of Core:ce and which practically con-
trols the entire herein traffic in the world frem headauarters ano kitchens
oratories; In Marseilles, had approazheL7 :ete rejnt rival, the. Italiene
American Mafia, in order to plan joint operations. This would validate, if Vr1Pat
the forecast cr.: the United States police to the effect that the Mafie weeld be
inclined to enter again the drug business from 1.ezh its major "caei" in
Sicily or in Manhattan had prudently withdrawn in the last two decades. :edeed,
anything is possible when it is a matter of such ced, and why not say fas-
cinating characters.
It is not likely that Beau Serge has mardered dozens of African political
leaders as it was initially 71,TraZa7But he migte. have in fact worked with
Ricord and might even have participated in the kir:napping of Ben Barka. We was
considered by the French police as a not very intelicent gangster who wz.s quick
with the trigger and skillful in self-defense, in sloite of his 21 santsnose, by
French courts, one of which was for the murder of Maerice Calibert, chief of a
polies brigade, some time in February 1966. Cn that occasion, Galibezt Lad been
informed that one of the gangsters who had collatcrated with the group which
had kidnapped Ben Barka was at a bar called Saint-Claire a popular gathering
place for embassy personnel, high-class prostitutes, and gangsters who occa-
sionally cooperated with the French Secret Service. Galibert was looking for
a person whose name was supposedly Julien Le Ny. The inspector did not find lee
Ny, but he recognized Christian David whom he-knew to be a lesser autcmobile
thief and decided to arrest him. Christian resisted, killed Galibert and ser-
iously wounded two of his assistants. The French police and the press are now
inquiring whether Le Ny and Christian were not the same person. It is possible;
anything is possible.
From the Secret Service to Narcotics
It is also possible that Christian already had at that time important
connections with the French Secret Service. It is known that on the day of the
Saint-Clair bar incident, Ctirjztian upon being approached had shown Galibert
a SAC ;Service d'Action Civique; Civil Service Action) membership card, a par-
allel police organization created during the De Gaulle administration.. It is
also rumored that one of Galibert's policemen tried to convince him that Chris-
tian was in fact "one cf_them."
The criminal record of Beau Serge from SAC and all the way to Auguste
Ricord, through his experiences with the Tupamaros, and in Senegal, and in the
Frente Armada de Libertacao [Armed Liberation Front) in Argentina from where hi
fled when it became known that he wee -Working for the communist and not for the
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Peron followers, shows how devi.-7.;. end intricate a path can be in the drug-
world. As a matter of fact, sait_e -t'ne "Frencn Connection," i.e., Marseilles
was being publicized in a boo', t-rough a le:tion picture with a box-office
sucoess--it seas already being a...:1E--,c:-.ret1 by the ;or arug peddlers. Marseilles
which was once defined by the UeL�zates bura.:.a of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, as enanning platform fro= here:n was 1-roadcasted to the world,
has not 9=1d-death* police recrrdr f.zipprosir.ately the last 2 years any new
cases of large drug catchee, c f tte isro:var, of new laboratories or ar-
rests of "big basses.'
The Discovery of the Amer-ire,
The latest 'victories* of the wax reeently announced by John
E. Ingersoll, director of t7ee ==144:: nar-.1:7--.7.7, took .place in Latin America.
In the beginning of Febrear-i- fiele inpertant dr:2v peddlers were arrested in La
Paz. An important cocalme p7orese-eg labcr3tory was aissant:ed in a Chilean re-
sort. In Lima, a gang whit:: in ald.tien 1:4--7s was engaged in introducing
counterfeit dollars into Peru WALS ca;arr. ser?-, Sereni was arrested in Ven-
ezuela while carrying 16 kilns of ,hercin. Ctber persons well-known to inter-
national bureaus of narrttics such as Jean-Pe.l Angeletti, Paul Maramian,
Renzo Rogai, and Francola C'list7pe, were spatted in their activities which led
them from Argentina or Par- to Panama t.-.e period of I year, between
September 3.970 and Septeazer lc71, the United 5tates police in Nisei confisca-
ted more than 200 kilos af han-trt and Ss:: ot cocaine from Latin America.
Finally, 1 month ago, p,croln tr:.,-= the edStates, P-szil, and Argentina,
found aboard the Ncac- ar s, ri7-i in Guanahata Say, 60 kilos of
heroin from Buenos Aires,
These figures are not ve.ry inpressi7e -when taking into account that about
50 tons of pure heroin are r:4::triz;ts,i yst:ly in the world. But for the "flares,"
United States agents in ewa: c ts. this is a good illustration of
the extent to which. the Cchnection"-was active until recently. �
The Correct Recipe
- "Take a beautiful wcez..n. a fcrmer fashich model, mix her with a group of
international gangsters, ac:.0 s dash of roeance and two or three shipments of
narcotics.. .simmer it al1 tcceer aver tne law fire of unproductive investiga-
tions and the result will tetsa t* the disappearance of Helena Ferreira,
a.fashionaodel prematurely r.:ed at the age of 25 awing to her unconvention-
al way of life."
These were the oper1Lr; lines used hy 0 Globo, a Rio newspaper, in
another article on the case of the =sails fathion model. The recipe was ex-
actly right. Soon thereafter, by-ever, it became increasingly more difficult
for the reporters to pursue the clues and the case, as well as Helena Fer-
reira herself, died out en the newspaper pages. At the Sao Paulo DEOPS
[State Departnent of Political and Social Order] police precinct, however, she
continued very much alive, disclosing information which would result in the
arrest of Beau Sercefl Buscetta; Nicoli, Callini, Canazzi, etc.
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The name of Helena atT,eariat in eotn,v_ion with the n3t00tic3 traf-
fic when Lucien Sarti eats eaultn anf papers and luggage were
examined by the "nacos� ento 64,-; motIon tir Brazilian counterparts,
supplying them with infcr-4t_tt, tIerta aas well-known to the police
organizations concerned eitt the t: Y.. tetrad included alga the murder
of a policeman in Brussels. 7:17. seem t-at cteracters such as Sarti and
Christian David, good serisvre;-% of a Ir.:�:eht c...:iaosition, had been assigned by
the Union Corsa to serve 24.t bodyluax-!..1 tt A,.:.,-.1s-A.--tcord. It seems that after
the arrest of Ricord, Eart- -.0ett 77:Am.:tee to eaking contacts and
carrying out executive taaaa
Mafia or Union Corsa'
Their relationshap witr Puscetta stall xe.r.--.1-1 unexplained. Or could it
be explained only upon verification t.-'at the tendency of the supreme council
of the United States' ea!ta is that tf returning to tarcettos as it Was sus-
pected by the "narce attar the representatives of the :wet important Mafia
"families" met a little over two month ago in New Yor/.
On behalf of whom 414 Buscetta speak at e,s etert.;nci with Sarti and Beau
Se? Bow important was he in tie hierar:hy of the "Coza Nostra"?
These questions still have nct been aaretred. At te end of last week, Ibrahim
Sued, always avoiding to mentitn the ireletatt sezta..-e, trandished in front of
0 Globo TV cameras a boo on the Mafi.z wh-cn zenc..;.ch is made of alpertain.
Buscetta, now also addressed by :�rahLm as Buschetta. The truth of the matter,
however, is that Buscetta is a pane t.-.at does ntt apteer in most of the docu-
ments on the Mafia, ncr en'en or the ceta:.lad ch-Irt t-itlished by the "The New
York Magazine Press" ct the i:ueets whete
At any rate, it is kncw that 7tmaso Blisletta wss born in Palermo,
Sicily, and that his name is in a list sent to the 1..martnent of Justice by
the Italian police in of la3t Qf 1,l14 persons charged with criminal
activitlea connected witt th .4naso is al-Js believed to have held .
an important position in the Palermi-.0, Berbera "family," during a "war" with
the Genco family. He was released on gtnunds cf insufficient evidence, and
entered Canada and the raited States always nnd-!..r ass%Imed names. Before coming
to Brazil he had been to Urugcay. These countries are undoubtedly important
in the heroin traffic. Canada is the oteratint 1-alse of Jean Venturi, one of
the Union Corsa "capi wecm untal recently made at in the company of a Santo '
Vrafficante Jr., of Mia.a who was inatcated as thief of the 24 Mafia "families"
in the United States, th,_ coord.inatinc d-z.o for the last stage of the heroin
trip before its deliver" to the 3cc,x;c druo addicts who wait for it in New
York.
The Problem and Its Sclutin
The arrest of Buscetta and his associates may be only another skirmish
in the war on drugs. The magnitude of their bus-ness can only be evaluated
on the basis of its outward-evidence ol:P-rosperity such as the offer by
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Beau Serge of 100,000 dollars to each of the four policemen who escorted him
ee a police precinet as an attempt at being taken to Galeao instead. The
action of the Brazilian police was officially praised by the United States
aethorities who are believed to have participated en the investigations eith
enly two agents sent to Rio.
For the polieeman Nelson Duarte, well known for his appearances in the
"nevi� Cavaleanti Progeam," and for his crusade on drugs, carried out through
ecn4'erences in schools, however, that praise will have a soneweat bitter taste.
In January, Nelson Dearte, led perha2e by his keen sense for shady dealings
had detained Lucien Sarmi and Helena Ferreira for investigation, on suspicien
that the dollars freely spent in large amounts by them in the gay Rio night
life was counterfeit. Duarte affirms that he only set them free after consul-
tation with his superiors. However,'he is now accused of receiving 40,00C
i.e: 240,000 crazeiros for the release of Sarti and Helena.
Once dismantled the Brazilian �Mafia," as it is now called even by the
New York Times which had a short note on it in one of its inside pages, there
remains for the Brazilian authorities a problem to solve -- that of Nelson
Duarte -- and perhaps also the solution for a mysterious case that happened
in Ilhabela, off the Sao Paulo coast.
Last May, a corpse found on one of the beaches of that small locality
was given as that of a woman supposedly murdered by.her iover Claudio Dipiel
Rodrigues who is believed to have ccmmitted suicide soon thereafter. Afeer
the arrest of Beau Seroe it became known that he used to visit that island
and stay at the same motel as Claudio, whose death would not have been just
the tragic end of a love affair, but the consequence of the couple's liaison
with the drug peddler:. Would the fax-reaching arms of the Mafia or Union
Corsa have stretched at a certain moment even toward the bucolic scenery of
Ilhabela? it is possiele, anything is possible;-
COPYRIGHT Veia, Sao Paulo, 1972
7657
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