Mafia Organization

Costa Rican police smashed on Wednesday a drug ring linked to the Italian mafia that smuggled cocaine hidden in shipments of vegetables to the United States and Europe, prosecutors said.

Of all the life lessons that Salvatore Vitale took from a boyhood friend he idolized, two of them became practically second nature: as a child, he was taught how to swim; as an adult, he was instructed how to kill. The latter skill, he would later admit, was one he practiced regularly on behalf of the friend, Joseph C. Massino, who would marry Mr. ...

Costa Rican police smashed on Wednesday a drug ring linked to the Italian mafia that smuggled cocaine hidden in shipments of vegetables to the United States and Europe, prosecutors said.

Of all the life lessons that Salvatore Vitale took from a boyhood friend he idolized, two of them became practically second nature: as a child, he was taught how to swim; as an adult, he was instructed how to kill. The latter skill, he would later admit, was one he practiced regularly on behalf of the friend, Joseph C. Massino, who would marry Mr. ...