NY mafia bust uncovers Guyana cocaine plot

United States and Italian law enforcement authorities yesterday announced the dismantling of a major trans-Atlantic mafia ring, which uncovered a plot to smuggle some 1,000 pounds of cocaine from Guyana to Southern Italy with the help of Mexican drug cartels already operating here.

The US Attorney’s Office said the “Guyana-Italy cocaine conspiracy” was part of an attempt by Franco Lupoi, a member of the Gambino crime family, to exploit his ties to Italian criminal organisation ‘Ndrangheta to extend his criminal network around the globe.

Lupoi was among the 24 persons arrested yesterday between the United States and Italy on narcotics trafficking charges,