A New York mobster has become the first member of the (whisper it) Mafia to be arrested in connection with the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK Airport.
Sound familiar? That’s because the robbery was turned into the stuff of legend by Martin Scorsese’s ‘GoodFellas.’
FBI agents are currently booking 78-year-old Vincent Asaro, reportedly an associate of the Bonanno crime syndicate, and say that they will release further details later.
Asaro becomes, somewhat improbably, the first mobster to face charges for the heist. The haul of $5m in cash and $1m in jewels was the biggest at the time, and equivalent to roughly $20m in today’s money.
A years-long investigation proved fruitless as nervous crime bosses systematically bumped off anyone involved directly with the robbery – something depicted in the Scorsese masterpiece.
Investigators are expected to reveal exactly what they believe Asaro’s role in the heist was.
Good Morning America report that, “he was reputed to be a key Mafia overseer responsible for illicit activities at JFK – long a target favored by the New York crime families because of the huge amount of cargo that moves through New York’s biggest airport. Asaro is now said to be an “administrator” of the Bonanno clan.”
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