Paul Mondoloni
Paul Damien Mondoloni (c. September 27, 1916 – July 29, 1985), alias Monsieur Paul, was a Corsican mafioso who was an important figure of the French Connection. He was killed in 1985. He was the associate of Marcel Francisci.
He fled France after pulling off a jewelry heist against the wife of the Aga Khan in 1952, eventually going to Cuba, where he went by the name "Rolland Samuel".[1] Mondoloni co-owned the El Morocco, a nightclub in Camagüey, Cuba, with Norman Rothman and Lucien Rivard.[2] With Rivard and Jean Croce he was involved in narcotics trafficking, paying Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista $20,000 per week.[3] The American authorities reported that, with the help of Rothman and Santo Trafficante Jr., Mondoloni was moving between 50 and 150kg of heroin every three to six months from Cuba to the United States.[4]
Author Douglas Valentine describes Mondoloni as "the grand architect of Corsican drug trafficking in Mexico". In February 1970 he met with Meyer Lansky to discuss opening up new routes.[5] Antranik Paroutian laundered his money through Swiss bank accounts.[6]
Mondoloni was shot dead, aged 68, on the afternoon of 30 July 1985 on Cours Joseph-Thierry in downtown Marseille. Three men in a beige Renault 9 hit him nine times in the chest and head with high-caliber bullets. Two bystanders were injured.[7] He is portrayed by the actor Gérard Darmon in the 2008 Canadian French film The American Trap.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "Cuba Seizes French Fugitive". The New York Times. 18 December 1956.
- ^ Saenz Rovner, Eduardo (2008). The Cuban Connection: Drug Trafficking, Smuggling, and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 109–10.
- ^ Valentine, Douglas (2004). The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. Verso. p. 183.
- ^ Valentine, Douglas (2004). The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. Verso. p. 187.
- ^ Valentine, Douglas (2019). The Strength Of The Pack: The Personalities, Politics And Espionage Intrigues That Shaped The DEA. Authors Guild Back in Print Distribution. p. 37.
- ^ Marshall, Jonathan (2012). The Lebanese Connection: Corruption, Civil War, and the International Drug Traffic. Stanford University Press. p. 202.
- ^ "La mort de Paul Mondoloni". Le Monde. 31 July 1985.
- ^ "The American Trap - Full Cast & Crew". TV Guide.
- "Le retour de la mafia corse", Le Monde, 22 May 2006 (by Jacques Follorou)
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