The Kansas City Narcotics Syndicate
Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, Gary and retired FBI agent and mafia historian Bill Ouseley discuss the creation of the Kansas City Narcotics Syndicate, which emerged during the prohibition era as local mobsters adapted to the loss of revenue from bootlegging. The conversation explores how the organization capitalized on international trade routes—from Turkey to Sicily, France, Canada, and the U.S.—that were central to drug trafficking operations, including the infamous French Connection. Bill provides insights into the efforts led by Harry Anslinger, then-director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, to combat these syndicates. Despite Anslinger's tenacity, the Italian-Sicilian Mafia managed to turn narcotics into a lucrative enterprise. Kansas City played a significant role in this operation, with mob figures like Joe and Frank DeLuca orchestrating the drug trade as a formal, business-like entity. Tune in to learn about the federal crackdown, spearheaded by local narcotics agents, which ultimately disrupted this shadowy chapter of organized crime history.
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So anyhow. Well, anyhow, that's a, that was a little aside folks. Uh, we're gonna talk about the Narcotic Syndicate in Kansas City as an example. We got you up to, you know, creating this, uh, uh. Organization to, to fight these narcotics organizations. And, and they were developed with international connections and, and trade routes from Turkey to Sicily to maybe France, uh, um, Canada to the United States.
I believe that's the way the French connection kinda was, uh, part of their operation was through Canada, but part of it was directly from Marsai into, uh. To, uh, the port in New York City. And so, but Kansas City had a big piece of that. So, bill, let's talk a little bit about, you know, Harry Anslinger and the Yeah.
Early narcotics, uh, uh, bureau and, and fighting, you know, these specific mafia gangs here in Kansas City.
Bill: Anslinger is director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics is going after. The, uh, trade routes. Of course, [00:01:00] they got narcotics agents in the various cities. They're establishing what's going on abroad. And at the same time, the uh, Italian Sicilian group, which is organized into what we call Cora, they're dipping their fingers into the drugs and making it a major operation.
Anslinger, uh, his organization is truly the only one, I mean. Some local police departments, uh, uh, were involved certainly, but uh, on a federal basis they were the main stay. So, uh, while, while he's in working, the mob is working, you know, and Anslinger job is getting harder as they get better. What happened in Kansas City is our organization that consolidated during prohibition, seeing the end of prohibition, uh, the powers to be, uh, decide that losing [00:02:00] alcohol.
They would replace it by going big time into a drug operation, and it was called the Kansas City Narcotics Syndicate. Our narcotics agent here, who was instrumental in, uh, breaking it up. Uh, he had another name for it, I forget right now, but it was like a, uh, subsidiary of the mob, which is what it was.
They appointed one of the original founders of the organization, a guy named Joe DeLuca, and he was given the, uh, job. Of putting this together, he and his brother Frank, they put it together on a ba a criminal, I mean, on a business basis. Uh,
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