233 Charged as U.S., Italians Stop Drug Ring

U.S. and Italian authorities, breaking up a huge drug ring that brought heroin into this country in exchange for cocaine, have charged 233 suspects in the United States and Sicily in what Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III described Thursday as “the largest international drug case ever developed by the federal government.”

Meese, announcing the action at a press conference punctuated by repeated questions about his own legal troubles, said the U.S.-Italian ring was importing heroin from Europe and distributing it throughout the United States. Agents were surprised to learn of the unusual barter system in which the Italians delivered heroin to America and got cocaine in return.

“FBI agents were able to work their way to the heart of the accused Sicilian Mafia organization,” Meese said. Federal agents were able to break up the ring because of extraordinary cooperation between American and Italian officials, he said.

The attorney general said 69 suspects nationwide and 164 in Italy were charged with drug trafficking and conspiracy in the operation. More than 100 arrests have been made, officials said, and more suspects are being sought in New York, Washington, Boston, Cleveland, Charlotte, N.C., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Investigators were tipped about the heroin operation through the so-called “pizza connection” drug ring in New York City, which was exposed in 1984. Using telephone taps and undercover agents, federal officials learned that the Italians had developed a highly sophisticated drug-running operation.

Under a Sicilian Mafia plan, cocaine was exported from various locations in the United States to Switzerland and Italy. Once in those European countries, the drug would be exchanged for Southwest Asian heroin.

In various smuggling devices--varying from hollowed-out rare books to body packs attached to female dancers--the heroin found its way from Europe to New York City.

From there, Meese said, “the tentacles of this network spread it throughout the country.”

‘A Barter Economy’

“This is one of the few situations in which there was an attempt to set up a barter economy in drugs,” said Meese, who was joined at the press conference by FBI Director Williams S. Sessions, Italian Ambassador Rinaldo Petrignani and several federal drug enforcement officials.

Cocaine is less expensive in the United States than in Italy, and heroin is cheaper in Italy than in the United States. Meese suggested that the success of the Administration’s anti-drug campaign may be responsible for this barter arrangement, saying that U.S. efforts to reduce heroin imports have led to higher prices for heroin here.

In addition, he said, other efforts to discourage drug use--symbolized by Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign--have led for the first time to a “leveling off” of cocaine consumption here. The result, Meese said, is that “we have a major oversupply” of cocaine in the United States.

Most of those indicted in the United States were in New York City. Sue Schnitzer, an FBI spokeswoman, said the investigation resulted in the indictment last year of Peter John Milano and four co-conspirators in Los Angeles on racketeering and drug trafficking charges. No new indictments were announced in Los Angeles, she said.

Four Prime Sources

Sessions said the FBI believes there are four prime sources of drugs being imported into the United States: Italy, Mexico, South America and Asia. He and Meese said Italian officials had been the most cooperative in working with U.S. officials to target drug traffickers and that cooperation led directly to the indictments and arrests.

During the investigation, FBI officials said, U.S. authorities seized six kilograms of heroin and four kilograms of cocaine, in addition to cash, weapons, vehicles, fur coats, paintings and jewelry. Italian authorities seized 25 kilograms of heroin and five kilograms of cocaine, as well as arms, ammunition and counterfeit money.

However, in response to several questions, Meese conceded that the impact of the investigation on the international drug market is unclear.