Tampa Mafia

Cocktail Noir Drink Recipes!
Several cocktails are named after mobsters. Scott M. Deitche explored the intersection of gangsters and...

CASTRO AND THE TAMPA MAFIA CONNECTION
Fidel Castro holds up a newspaper headlining the discovery of a plot to kill Castro...

“I TAKE THE FIFTH AMENDMENT!”
Santo Trafficante and lawyer Henry Gonzalez In June of 1981, at age 66, Santo Trafficante...

TAMPA CRIME BOSS SANTO TRAFFICANTE JR PLAYS A CENTRAL ROLE IN THRILLER ‘MAFIA SPIES’
Tampa organized crime boss Santo Trafficante Jr. is pictured at the Sans Souci nightsclub in...

SANTO TRAFFICANTE SR, A ‘Sicilian of the Old School,’ RULED TAMPA’S UNDERWORLD FOR MORE THAN A DECADE!
Members of the Tampa Mafia: Santo Trafficante Sr., standing, second from left. Sitting: Alphonso Diecidue...

THE RISE OF CASTRO AND THE FALL OF THE HAVANA MOB
Fidel Castro’s revolution swept former president Fulgencio Batista out of Cuba on December 31, 1958....

JOE VAGLICA’S LAST PLATE OF FRIES
Joe Vaglica In the early morning of December 5, 1928, patrolman Frank Osowski was walking...

THE BEST OF TAMPA’S MOBSTER HANGOUTS
The original Malio's Restaurant located on South Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, Florida. THE HIDDEN...

THROUGH THE EYES OF A DAUGHTER: THE HIT ON JIMMY VELASCO
Sylvia at age 12 and her father Jimmy Velasco in California, June 1948 Jimmy Velasco...

TAMPA’S FIRST MAFIA BOSS
Ignazio Italiano's mug shot Sicilian Black Hand activities have existed in Tampa and Ybor City...

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BOLITA
Forget everything you think you know about Tampa mafia wives and girlfriends in the 1950s....

THE HIT THAT EXPOSED SOME OF TAMPA’S ELITE
Jimmy Velasco Wearing a long coat and a hat that covered half his face, the...

AL CAPONE’S TAMPA BAY CONNECTION
The Shore Acres home is 2,350-square-feet with 10 rooms that Capone reputedly built in 1925...

THE DEVIL LOOKS AFTER HIS OWN
THE CHARLIE WALL STORY Kingpin Charlie Wall (center holding bottle, right of child) and his...

BOLITA VICE SQUAD
Bolita Bust In March of 1958, Buddy Meisch, a young hard-nosed ex-Tampa cop turned deputy,...