Family Business VIII

FAMILY BUSINESS VIII- THE PEAR TREE

Crime Through The Years

In the early days of organized crime, extortion, gambling, prostitution, and other illegal practices were typical enterprises most crime families had engaged in.

However, during the prohibition era, the manufacture of illicit booze, boot-leg liquor trafficking, and the operation of speakeasies were additional income-producing forms of revenue.

By the early fifties, an new product was emerging as a significant moneymaker, illegal narcotics. As the country grew, so did the appetite for illicit drugs like marijuana, barbiturates, cocaine, and heroin.

Fast forward to the seventies, and narcotics were the single most high-profit revenue stream of all the five family New York crime syndicates. Moreover, the illegal product came in from almost all ports of entry, from countries like Columbia, Brazil, and Peru.

The drugs would make it’s way to Fidel Castro’s Cuba, then smuggled the ninety-mile trek to Miami by boat or transported up the eastern coast to open ports in North Carolina, New Jersey, and New York.

The War On Drugs

Drugs became so prevalent in social circles of every economic stature that the government had virtually no ability to stop them.

Then there became the governments’ war on drugs. First, they comprised a public service campaign with the message “just say no to drugs,” an effort to denounce the use of illegal narcotics.

Second, they coupled that public message with intensified federal and local crackdowns on the drug distribution networks.

To stay involved in the drug trafficking business, organized crime had to constantly invent ways to prevent suspicious drug enforcement agents from discovering their distribution channels.

Out-smarting the government was no easy task, and much like the gangsters had done with liquor during prohibition, they now had to devise new ways of obtaining and distributing their drug shipments.

The Many Advantages Of The Farm

The Palmisano farm in upstate New York served numerous purposes for the Zizzo organized crime family.

On the farm, you had the potato farming business, a front for the more nefarious deeds that occurred there, like the Old Barn Zizzo justice facility where Don Zizzo handled his criminal affairs by serving as judge, jury, and executioner.

In addition to the potato fields, there was also the pear orchard, located on the northernmost edge of the property adjacent to the shoreline of Lake George.

The pear orchard was developed in the late ’50s by Auguste Palmisano. Initially, there was a single pear tree, and Palmisano determined that planting more pear trees would allow much better seclusion between the farm and the water’s edge.

With approximately two rows of forty trees stretching the length of the farmstead edge, boaters and sightseers would not see the many undertakings conducted on farm property.

Buried Treasure

Another value-added asset the trees provided is each tree was identified with a name so the pear harvest could be tracked, indicating the best producers.

However, the real purpose for the individual tree identification was to determine where the Zizzo family cash supply was buried. You see, most of the income obtained from their crime operations would always be in the form of cash.

To place such in banks or legitimate investments would result in a paper trail, and Don Zizzo preferred to bury significant amounts where he could keep his eye on things.

He also needed complete control, not wanting others to discover where such treasure was buried, so he would have it moved periodically to keep it safe.

The identity of the trees would enable him to confirm where and how much was buried at any given location.

Who Would Suspect A Hard-Working Farmer

The potatoes offered two annual crops, a spring harvest and another in late fall. The pears were picked in the late summer months and continue into fall.

While neither crop was ever highly abundant, they produced enough to serve Zizzo’s real purpose, that being a means to hide the movement of the illegal drugs by creating false bottoms in the bushels for drugs and topping the baskets off with potatoes or pears.

The old farm trucks transporting bushels of potatoes or pears never raised any suspicions of the actual content.

In fact, many of the potatoes or pears were ever even sold. The trucks would be loaded with about half the bushels containing the hidden drugs, the other half with only potatoes or pears.

When the drugs were distributed, there was never any attempt to sell the potatoes or pears. Instead, they would be returned to create additional fake shipments, and the distribution cycle would continue.

Much More Lucrative Than Farming

In the late seventies and through the eighties, cocaine was at the height of its popularity. In those days, the bushels were typically hiding one kilo of cocaine, about 1000 grams each.

With a New York street value of about $200 per gram, each bushel sold would bring anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 in cash. So with the trucks containing a dozen or so potato bushels with cocaine, one truck could be transporting 2 million dollars or more.

Considering a bushel of potatoes or pears might net $10-$15 each at a local farmers market, it is clear why the crime families had little interest in legitimate farming.

Look for more in the ongoing Family business series describing stories and reports of this unique crime family and the Don Zizzo justice system.

About the Author

Thomas Doyle is a professional career chef, entrepreneur, restaurant consultant, writer for the food industry, storyteller, and humorist. A Green Bay, Wisconsin resident, avid Green Bay Packers fan, and lifelong Packer season-ticket holder, Doyle now can be found as a feature writer for Packerstalk.com.