CUBAN
CRIME CONFEDERATION
Ref: Research Papers
Organized Crime Training Program
Vol. VIII, about 1971
THE CUBAN CRIME
CONFEDERATION
By: Rafael Aguirre
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter
I. Its
Origin......................................
1
II. Rise and Fall of the Cuban
Mafia.. 3
III. Structural
Skeleton....................... 5
IV. Cuban
Lottery.............................
8
V. Corruption and
Solution............... 10
Bibliography......................................
11
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader that a
crime confederation,
made up of groups of Cubans does exist. This syndicate
of crime, in
only a ten year span, has risen at a pace unparalleled by
any other group,
and it is still gaining momentum.
The term "Cuban" will be used throughout to facilitate
reference to the Cuban
criminal element, and it is not meant to generalize on the
nationality.
Much is being written on the rise of the Black and Puerto
Rican Mafia but
nothing specifically on Cubans. Unfortunately much of
the existing
material dealing with Cuban criminal activities were found
by this writer
to be part of active intelligence files and therefore not
available for publication.
For this reason there will be a noticeable lack of footnotes
and bibliography.
Page 1
ITS ORIGIN
The Cuban criminal element in Dade County is a well
organized, politically
powerful, crime confederation. Ironically, this has
not been achieved
in the traditional way, that is poor immigrants struggling
through a visa
quota to enter the United States; once here, using force and
violence to
reassert themselves as other groups before them have done,
like the Irish,
Jews, Italians. On the contrary, Cubans were
indiscriminately welcomed
with open arms as political refugees.
Unfortunately, mingled with the bulk of honest citizens,
come the professional
criminal. Men who in Cuba had lived outside of the
law, arrived to
this country seeking to continue, covered by the protective
mantle of a democratic
government, their illicit trade. The criminal element
which arrived
in this country after Castro took over was not the ghetto
material in the
classical sense. It was a well trained, crime-wise,
sophisticated element,
with established connections throughout Latin America, and
the American underworld.
Connections with the American mob were cemented in the
latter part of the
1950's when in 1956 Meyer Lansky moved the bulk of his
casino operations
to Cuba. There he formed a partnership with Santos
Trafficante which
controlled all the major gambling casinos on the
island. The corruption
and complete mob control which flourished in Cuba from 1956
to 1959 is paralleled
only by what occurred in Chicago during the Capone era.
Page 2
Everyone, from the policeman on the beat to the President of
the Republic,
received his cut from the mob.
The Central Intelligence Agency played a big part in the
rapid growth of
the Cuban syndicate by providing it with expert training in
the use of firearms,
explosives and clandestine methods of operation. In
1960, in an attempt
to overthrow the Castro regime, thousands of Cubans were
recruited by the
Central Intelligence Agency and trained in clandestine
warfare. Prior
criminal experience combined with the new found techniques
resulted in a
highly polished criminal which in some instances makes a
Cosa Nostra member
look like a cub scout.
On December, 1970 Dennis Dule, then an agent with the Bureau
of Narcotics
and Dangerous Drugs, stated before a hearing of the Greater
Miami Crime Commission
that there was such a thing as a Cuban Mafia. Mr. Dale
was nor far
from the truth and he can be accredited with being the first
person to publicly
recognize that such a thing as a Cuban criminal organization
existed.
Although the writer does not agree with the term Cuban
Mafia, for reasons
which will be explained, enough intelligence has been
gathered by federal,
state, and local law enforcement agencies which indicates
the existence of
a Cuban crime confederation. A confederation made up
of small, organized
groups, loosely connected, with no strong central government
and complete
local Autonomy, which control large gambling operations, and
practically
all of the drug importation into south Florida.
Page 3
RISE AND FALL OF THE CUBAN MAFIA
The term Cuban Mafia denotes an organization having the same
structural make-up
as, or at least connected with, the Italian Cosa
Nostra. While this
may have been the case at one time, it is certainly not so
now. There
are no Capodecinas, Consiglieres, or Commissions in the
Cuban groups.
Moreover, the Cubans are regarded as unpredictable, and too
violent by the
now public relations conscious Cosa Nostra. They have
been left alone
to do their own thing, and are doing it quite successfully.
In 1959, after being chased out of Cuba by Castro,
Trafficante did attempt
to cash in on the potential profits of a well organized
lottery operation,
in the rapidly expanding Cuban colony in Miami. He did
it by helping
old friends from Cuba like Domingo Echemendia,* and Evaristo
Garcia Sr. and
taking a cut from their operations. "My father saw
Trafficante and
Trafficante introduced my father to J.D. and that's how my
father started
operating out here. "We knew Trafficante from Cuba,
and there we did
favors." (1) There were other Cubans working for Trafficante
in Miami at
that time, including Evaristo Garcia.
Garcia took over Echemendia's operation after the latter
died, and extended
it to include shylocking. On December 3, 1967; at a
meeting of the
Cuban gambling combine of Miami, Santo Trafficante proposed
Evaristo Garcia
Sr. as lay-off man and senior-banker for this area.
With Trafficante's
backing he was considered the "Number One Man" for Cuban
gambling interests.
(2) His handle on bolita operations based on the Puerto
Rican lottery was
estimated at $40,000. per week. (3) That's a yearly
operation of over
$2,000,000. which did not include shylocking activity.
*Echemendia had fronted for Trafficante as part owner of the
Tropicana Casino
Nightclub which was considered as one the world's
finest. He died in
1965
Page 4
In June 1969, Garcia, his son Jr. and Lazaro Milian, were
indicted by a federal
Grand Jury and charged with obstruction of justice.
Later that same
year, the elder Garcia jumped his $100,000. Bond and fled to
Costa Rica where
he still lives in order to avoid prosecution.
Garcia Jr., Lazaro Milian, and Oscar Alvarez, continued with
Trafficante's
rapidly decaying Cuban operation. It did not last very
long.
Milian and Alvarez had themselves been arrested on October
1968 by Dade County
deputies for conducting a lottery operation. At the
time of the arrest
Milian and Alvarez assumed that the arrest was nothing more
than a shake-down
by the deputies for more money. They attempted to
bribe the deputies,
consequently, additional charges were placed on the two
subjects. Surprised
and angered by the detectives' actions, they complained that
they had been
making regular payments to another deputy in order to
operate free from police
harassment. This outburst led to the infamous Celona
confessions.
Milian and Alvarez were convicted, and after serving 8
months in minimum
security confinement, were given 5 years probation. On
Jan. 1971; Garcia
Jr. and Lazaro Milian fled to Costa Rica to join the elder
Garcia.
The subjects are not expected to return to the United
States. Since
the break-up of the Garcia operation no evidence of any king
has turned up
indicating that Trafficante has any control over Cuban
gambling activities
in Dade County.
Page 5
STRUCTURAL SKELETON
Cubans who upon arrival in the United States were relocated
in other cities
throughout the nation, make for valuable connections on a
national level.
Internationally, connections have been made with Cubans who
migrated to other
countries directly from Cuba; in addition to those who have
fled the United
States fearing prosecution for crimes committed. One
such country is
Spain, which had been to the Cubans what Italy is to the
Italian-American
mobsters. No other group has enjoyed the mobility,
ready-made connections,
and freedom of operations as the Cubans have.
A factor which has made difficult for law-enforcement to
view the Cuban groups
in perspective is the lack of organizational
structure. Unlike the
Cosa Nostra, there are no families or members with formal
ranks. A
Cuban group may consist of a group of men, working for a
financial backer
rather than a boss.* Each having different levels of
responsibility, but
no defined rank position. They are held together by
the profit motive,
not any family or group loyalty. If the particular
illicit activity
becomes unprofitable or risky due to police concentration,
the backer may
discontinue its' financing and disband the group. The
members may then
look for other going groups which may need their
services. The backer
himself may change the type of activity and continue
operating; or may lay
low until the pressure sub-sides, then continue with his
activities.
It is interesting to note that the Cosa Nostra, after being
the dominant
force in organized crime in this country for over forty
years, is moving
more towards the nebulous structure described above.
*Boss as used here, denotes gang leader or family head.
Page 6
Publicity and new laws given to law-enforcement agencies to
fight organized
crime have made it too risky to be boss. In addition,
the respect and
prestige that rank and formal membership once brought to the
old timers,
is not much sought after by their college educated
descendants.
The swift, smooth, unnoticed rise of the Cuban groups, has
been unparalleled
by any other group in the history of crime in this
country. There are
several reasons which have made it so, some have already
been explained in
preceding chapters. Let us examine others. No
other ethnic group
has been so openly received by this country. This has
made possible
ample ethnic reserves to draw from. As of February 28,
1970, one of
every four citizens in Dade Country was of Cuban origin,
with 240,716 resettled
elsewhere in the United States. (4)
Another reason has been the lack of competition by existing
groups in control.
Besides being as clannish, or perhaps more so, as the Cosa
Nostra, they are
also more apt to violence since they have been unhindered by
the public lime-light
from which other groups suffer. Because the Cuban
community has had
a relatively low incidence rate of street crime i.e. rape,
muggings, assaults,
robberies, the Cuban groups have been completely ignored by
the public in
general.
Page 7
TRIANGLE OF DRUGS
"There is a confederation of Cuban hoodlums who make up a
triangle of associates
in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the United States."
(5) The triangle
refereed to, is made up of Cubans who reside in the United
States, South
American and Spain. This confederation has become
strong to the point
of dealing direct in major drug transaction; thereby
eliminating a middle
man. In some instances it has played the role of
middle man for other
groups dealing in narcotics.
Cubans dealing in Spain and South America are dealing
directly with conversion
laboratories operating in Marseilles, France and various
countries in South
America. The Cuban confederation has set up its own
smuggling routes
into the United States involving shipments values in
millions of dollars.
Cubans are the major importers of heroin and cocaine into
the United States
today.
"They're moving tremendous amounts of heroin and cocaine to
the point where
they rival, if not surpass, the traditional organized crime
elements in the
United States." (6) One can easily measure the rate of
growth of the Cuban
confederation by observing that the illicit drug trade in
this country is
being rapidly monopolized by an organization which has been
in existence
for less than 15 years.
Page 8
CUBAN LOTTERY
The large sums of money which are required for high-level
deals come from
the same source which usually finances all other types of
illicit ventures,
illegal gambling. Aside from the few who started by
dealing in small
quantities of drugs and later bank-rolled themselves into
the big time; profits
from illegal gambling operations have been the starting
point for most.
Cuban owned business chains have been established in the hub
of Dade County
by profits from illegal gambling. Most of those
businesses today are
being used to front all types of illicit activities, from
liquor and meat
high-jacking, to cocaine shipments; the most prevalent
being, of course,
gambling.
The gambling situation in the Cuban community is somewhat
unique. Generations
of Cubans have grown up with gambling as a way of life; for
Cuba had its
own national lottery. All forms of gambling were
legal; from cock-fighting
to casino operation. The common numbers operation was
illegal; However,
a policeman betting a quarter on a number with the local
writer was a common
sight. Gambling in the Cuban community is extremely
widespread, it
permeates social life; yet, gambling arrests are relatively
few compared
to other sections of the city.
A great number of old honest, law-abiding citizens, proud of
having worked
all their lives, view writing numbers and selling lottery as
an opportunity
to earn extra income which would keep them out of the
welfare rolls.
The advantages of hiring these people are twofold. First, no
one wants to
arrest a 65 old woman for writing numbers; if they are
arrested, chances
of a jail sentence are almost nil.
Page 9
Second, by giving the old folks a chance to make some extra
money the operation
Robin-Hood image is enhanced; thus perpetuating the
operation. The
biggest lottery and numbers operation in Dade County is
financed and operated
by a Cuban banker.* His name is not mentioned here for
obvious reasons; however
this has been verified by intelligence exchange with other
law enforcement
agencies and extensive use of confidential informants.
*Banker as used here devotes who finances a number
operation, not connected
with legitimate banking profession.
Page 10
CORRUPTION AND SOLUTION
No knowledgeable person in law-enforcement will argue that
vice cannot exist
in a community without some form of official
corruption. Is there vice
in the Cuban community of Dade County? Most definitely
yes; as we have
already observed. Is there corruption? The
answer can only be
one, yes. However, corruption may only be incidental
to the real problem
or perhaps result of it; and not the true cause. The
real problem,
as was the case with the Cosa Nostra, may be failure to
recognize that there
is a Cuban confederation of crime; that a criminal
conspiracy to beat the
system does exist in the Cuban community. We must
educate the public
as we educate ourselves
The Kefauvers and the McClellans have already served their
need by placing
a name tag and giving a face to one ghost. Let us not
have to resort
to them again. Let us do our own identifying.
Let us attempt
to combat this new ghost now; before the next grant is
issued to teach us
all about the Cuban Crime Confederation.
Page 11
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Taped conversation of Echemendia's son in 1966
Miami Police Dept.
records.
2. Miami Police Department Records.
3. Miami Beach Sun, Sunday, June 22, 1969
4. Fact Sheet, February 28, 1970, Cuban Refugee Center
5. John Enright, Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, "Latins moving
most heroin." Miami News, Friday, February 10, 1972
6. David Connoly, Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous
Drugs, "History
of Narcotics" lecture given at Biscayne College, Organized
Crime Training
Program, January 31, 1972
End of Page
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