Genovese Crime Family Defendants 1959 Narcotics Conspiracy Trial

Vito Genovese was the most well known of ten people who were prosecuted for an international narcotics conspiracy at the end of the 1950s. Genovese was the mastermind but he had substantial help. A controversial witness at the trial was Puerto Rican national Nelson Cantellops who became a Genovese courier in 1955. Cantellops testified to one meeting with Genovese. However, the witness was a frequent transporter of drugs from New York to major cities of the U.S. like Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago. Cantellops was especially close to the Polizzano brothers, Ralph and Carmine. Both of them were involved in narcotics. Ralph owned a motel and bar in Manhattan that was a front for drug processing and distribution.