DeepSummary
The episode discusses Santo Trafficante Jr., a powerful Florida mobster from the 1950s to the 1980s. His father, Santo Trafficante Sr., started the family's criminal enterprise in Tampa, dealing in illegal lotteries and establishing ties with the New York mafia families. When Castro took over Cuba in 1959, the Trafficantes lost their lucrative casino and hotel businesses there.
Trafficante Jr. then focused on consolidating power in Florida, eliminating rivals through violence. In the 1960s, he became involved in CIA plots to assassinate Castro, working with other mobsters like Sam Giancana and Johnny Roselli. Though the plots failed, Trafficante avoided prison time and led the family until shortly before his death in 1987.
The episode portrays Trafficante as a cunning and low-key mobster who navigated the criminal underworld with skill, forging alliances with both the government and other crime families to further his interests in gambling, drugs, and other rackets across the Southeast U.S.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Santo Trafficante Jr. was a powerful and influential mob boss who built a criminal empire across the Southeast U.S., particularly in Florida.
- The Trafficante family had lucrative casino and hotel operations in Cuba under Batista that were shut down when Castro took over in 1959.
- Trafficante worked with the CIA in plots to assassinate Castro in the early 1960s, in order to regain his Cuban business interests.
- Despite his illicit activities, Trafficante was savvy in avoiding lengthy prison sentences and mostly operated under the radar.
- The episode portrays the uneasy alliance between the U.S. government and mobsters like Trafficante in the efforts against Castro.
- Trafficante consolidated his power through strategic violence against rivals in Florida and ties to New York crime families.
- The FBI finally indicted Trafficante in 1983 through an undercover sting operation after decades of his criminal activities.
- Trafficante's story illustrates both the power and limitations of organized crime in mid-20th century America.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “If you ever try to do business with organized crime again.“ by Robert F. Kennedy
- “The charges are the result of an FBI sting operation in which agents worked undercover for three years, operating a plush, lucrative club to draw in the underworld figures.“ by Robert W. Butler
- “Crime definitely pays.“ by Sean Williams
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Episode Information
The Underworld Podcast
The Underworld Podcast
12/5/23