Nene Marquez and, 324, 325
murder of Palulu, 263, 265
Peruvian casino deal, 384–386, 392–395, 496
retirement from bolita business, 325–327
RICO trial, 508–509, 512–513, 521–522
suicide, 512
Ernestico Torres and, 141
Rydz, Susan, 324, 325, 457, 499, 500, 501, 511–513
Salazar, Humberto, 399
Salerno, Anthony “Fat Tony,” 71, 193–195, 231
San Román, Pepe, 33, 45–46
Santana, Armando, 214
Scarafile, Frank, 90, 125–126, 127, 159, 161
Sendero Luminoso, 420–422, 424, 427
Sepe, Alfonso, 238, 239, 242–243, 310
Sexy Cubana (informant), 436–437, 438, 494, 496
Shadow Warrior (Felix Rodriguez), 316
Shakur, Assata, 213–214
Shanks, David
attempted murder of, 487–489
background, 156
José Miguel Battle’s deportation, 440–441
José Miguel Battle’s drug dealing, 354–355
José Miguel Battle’s estate raid, 461–465
José Miguel Battle’s trial for firearms possession, 475–477, 478–481
bolita laundromat operation, 319–324
Bordons’ money laundering trials, 486–487
Casino Crillón investigation, 494–495
cockfighting raids, 327–330
as expert witness, 459–460
first narcotics seizure, 157
Gulf Liquors investigation, 416–417, 448–449, 451–452
Hurricane Andrew, 381–382
Kalafus and, 331–332, 365–366
knowledge that Walled is José Miguel Battle, 436
mole in department, 345–349
Nicholas and, 334
Operation Tabletop, 335–343
Roberto Parsons and, 376–379
Pearsall and, 234, 236–237
Perez and, 355, 387–389
Pons and, 367–368
relationship with Boyd, 318, 323–324, 458, 459
return to Battle/Corporation investigation, 410
RICO trial deal for Miguelito Battle, 507
RICO trial of José Miguel Battle, 483–486, 492, 509–510, 511
Sexy Cubana and, 436–437, 438
Vice Squad, 318
YMR wiretap, 380
Shultz, Dutch, 70
Silber, Alan, 238–239
Sirgo, Laura, 280–281
Solano Loo, Juan, 409, 435, 441, 444
Somoza Debayle, Anastasio, 311, 312
Spanish Harlem (New York City), 139
Stelzer, Lance, 222–223
Sturgis, Frank, 57–58, 60–61, 101, 375
Suarez, Frank, 335–340, 341–342
Suarez, Rosa, 336–340, 341–342
Tampa, Florida, 9, 67, 68
Tombs (Manhattan House of Detention for Men), 229–231
Tony’s Barbershop, 74, 85
Toribio, Jannin, 280–281, 284, 290, 324
Torres, Bernardo de, 83
Torres, Ernesto, Sr., 96–97, 133, 177–178
Torres, Ernesto “Ernestico” “Rasputin”
abduction of Battle organization bankers, 147–151
attempted assassinations of, 154–156
background, 96
Pedro Battle and narcotics sales, 109
as bolitero, 142
Dávila and, 98, 141, 162
deterioration of Acuna relationship, 146–147
El Morro hit, 145–146
entrapment of, 166–173, 177–183
hunt for and shooting of Alvarez, 131–132, 134, 135
hunt for Palulu, 119–120, 128–130
jewelry heist from wives of Tati and Monchi, 151–152
in Miami, 162–163
murder of, 15, 16, 17, 163–164, 182–184, 199–204, 210, 216, 222–227, 228, 238–239, 286
narcotics sales in Bronx (New York City), 110
nickname, 140
relationship with José Miguel Battle, 140, 152–153
role in Battle’s organization, 140–141
in Spain, 97–99
sports betting, 142–143
Torres, Roque, 335–342
Torres, Ruby De Los Santos, 475, 476, 477
Torriente, José Elías de la, 107–109
Trafficante, Santo, Jr.
assassination of John Kennedy and, 59–60, 66
José Miguel Battle and bolita business, 8–9, 10, 68, 70–71
control of Tampa bolita business, 67–68
Dávila and, 138
Fox and, 8–9
Lanksy and, 9
Miami cocaine business, 76
murder of Roselli and, 206–207
plots to assassinate Castro and, 50, 51–52, 53, 205
Trafficante, Santo, Sr., 9, 67
2506 Brigade
José Miguel Battle as platoon leader, 21–22, 34–36
citizenship and, 49
Duran and, 214
imprisonment in Castillo del Príncipe, 38–39, 54
imprisonment in Havana, 38
imprisonment in Isle of Pines, 39–43
John F. Kennedy at Orange Bowl and, 45–48
men in, 21, 22, 23–24, 25, 415
organization of, 25–26
paratroop unit, Company C, 27–28, 27–33, 30
release and flown to U.S., 43–44
retreat and capture of, 34–38
San Blas as mission, 27–28
Veterans Association, 313–314
Watergate break-in and, 101
Union City, New Jersey
as base of New York City bolita business, 69
José Miguel Battle residence in, 11, 64
Vaccarino, Anthony, 93
Valachi, Joe, 217
Valdivia, Celin, 90, 127
Van Der Linden, Jacobo, 399–400
Varona, Manuel Antonio de “Tony,” 53
Venezuela, 105
Vidan, Orestas “El Cocinero,” 269, 419, 496, 501
Vigoa, Oscar, 308–310, 314
Vigoa, Willie, 329
Wack, Lawrence, 108, 241
Walled, Alfredo, 389. See also Battle y Vargas, José Miguel, Sr. “El Gordo”
Ward, Benjamin, 305
Watergate burglary, 100–103
Whitehurst, George, 78
Wright, Ronald, 223
YMR Fashions Corp., 267, 380, 496
Zambrano, Manuel, 399
Zatrapalek, Charles, 218
Zayaz, Gerardo, 332–333, 334
“Zero Group,” 107
The Bay of Pigs invasion, April 17, 1961, was a hellish ordeal for the men of Brigade 2506. The battle raged for three days until the invading soldiers were either killed or forced to surrender.
(© GETTY IMAGES)
Many members of the brigade were held as prisoners by the government of Fidel Castro. It was a bitter defeat that would shape the lives of everyone involved.
(© GETTY IMAGES)
After members of the brigade were captured, they were brought before Fidel Castro (far right), who smoked a cigar and reveled in the humiliation of his captives.
(© AP PHOTOS)
After the release of prisoners, President John F. Kennedy met surviving members of the brigade at the Orange Bowl in Miami. He was presented with the brigade’s official fag. Eleven months later Kennedy was assassinated.
(© GETTY IMAGES)
José Miguel Battle and Angel Mujica knew each other since Havana. They were both members of Brigade 2506, served time in the infamous Cuban prison on the Isle of Pines, and, on the same day, they both joined the U.S. Army.
(© U.S. ARMY PHOTOS)
Santo Trafficante Jr. (wearing glasses) proved to be an important contact for Battle as he forged a relationship with the Mafia in the United States. Here Trafficante is detained in Havana, where
he was incarcerated for a time in 1959 before being released and deported back to the States.
(© AP PHOTOS)
Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, titular boss of the Genovese crime family, controlled the numbers racket for all Five Families in NYC. Salerno created a power sharing arrangement with Battle and the Cuban boliteros that lasted for more than a decade.
(© GETTY IMAGES)
Union City Mayor William Musto and Deputy Police Chief Frank Scarafle at their arraignment on gambling charges.
(© JERSEY JOURNAL)
Humberto “Isleño” Dávila, the most successful of the bolita bankers, seen here at a social function in mid-1975 with his wife, his mother, his brother Tony and Tony’s wife.
(© DÁVILA FAMILY)
Ernesto Torres, who José Miguel Battle sometimes referred to as El Hijo Pródigo, the Prodigal Son.
(© ERNESTO TORRES IZQUIERDO)
Pedro Battle (left), stands with Ernesto Torres at the baptism of Ernesto’s son. Pedro Battle served as godfather, with the woman holding the child serving as godmother.
(© ERNESTO TORRES IZQUIERDO)
Carlos “Charley” Hernandez, seen here with his mother.
(© KELLY NOGUEROL/CAROL DALEY)
Ernesto Torres, shot dead in the closet of an apartment in Opa-Locka, Florida.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
The coup de grâce, a bullet between the eyes, was administered by El Padrino.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
Idalia Fernandez in a 1973 police mug shot photo.
(© NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT)
The murder of Ernesto Torres and assault on Idalia Fernandez: this schematic of the crime scene was created by prosecutors for the trial of Battle on the charge of Conspiracy to Commit Murder. At the time, prosecutors did not know that Battle was actually one of the assailants.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
José “Palulu” Enriquez
Julio “Chino” Acuna
Conrado “Lalo” Pons
Gustavo Battle
Robert Hopkins
Effugenia Reyes
There were nearly a dozen attempts on the life of Palulu Enriquez, in prison and out, over the course of a decade, before the deed was finally done. Palulu was shot while convalescing in a hospital by a gunman disguised as a male nurse.
(© NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT)
Roberto Parsons, former CIA covert operator turned hit man for the Corporation.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
Miami police officer Dave Shanks (far right) with fellow detectives, including Sgt. Jimmy Boyd in white shirt.
BELOW: Shanks receives a special citation from Miami-Dade Police Director Fred Taylor
(© DAVID SHANKS)
Shanks making a street arrest. In 1984, he was temporarily demoted from the Organized Crime Squad to uniform street patrol.
(© DAVID SHANKS)
The bolita arson wars of the mid-1980s resulted in many gruesome homicides, including these victims, above and below, who were incinerated to death in a fire on Evergreen Avenue in Brooklyn that was undertaken by Willie Diaz (inset).
(© NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT)
José Miguel Battle being arrested in Miami for attending and betting on cockfights, surrounded by Miami-Dade police officers.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
Battle was a financial and political supporter of the Contras, a rebel insurgency attempting to overthrow the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The Contras trained at camps in South Florida and were supported by anti-Castro Cuban exiles.
(© GETTY IMAGES)
By the early-1990s, Battle had achieved considerable notoriety in the media, partly as a result of the Presidential Commission hearings on organized crime and gambling held in New York City. As a result, law enforcement and the press came after Battle, which partly motivated his move to Lima, Peru.
(© NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
El Zapotal, Battle’s estate in South Miami, as seen from the air, with the house, pool, and field hands’ quarters surrounded by mamey groves.
(© U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
Miguelito Battle (left, with mustache), and Abraham “Polaco” Rydz (with glasses), seen here with their wives and the daughter of a business associate celebrating her bat mitzvah.
(COURTESY OF U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
The Casino Crillón opened on the bottom two floors of the Hotel Crillón, one of the most venerable hotels in the city of Lima. At left is a luggage tag from the hotel circa the early-1990s.
(© T. J. ENGLISH)
Abraham Rydz with his daughter Susan.
(COURTESY OF SUSAN RYDZ)
The suicide note that Rydz left for his daughter.
(COURTESY OF SUSAN RYDZ)
In later years, Battle suffered from poor health until his death in 2007. Here he is in better times, circa 1985, with his pet monkey.
(© HISTORYMIAMI MUSEUM)
The monument in honor of those who died at the Bay of Pigs invasion, located on Calle Ocho in Miami’s Little Havana.
(© EVAN MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ)
T. J. English IS A NOTED JOURNALIST, A SCREENWRITER, AND THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERS HAVANA NOCTURNE, PADDY WHACKED, AND THE SAVAGE CITY, AS WELL AS OF THE WESTIES, A NATIONAL BESTSELLER, AND BORN TO KILL, WHICH WAS NOMINATED FOR AN EDGAR AWARD. HE HAS WRITTEN FOR VANITY FAIR, PLAYBOY, AND ESQUIRE, AMONG OTHER PUBLICATIONS. HIS SCREENWRITING CREDITS INCLUDE EPISODES OF THE TELEVISION CRIME DRAMAS NYPD BLUE AND HOMICIDE, FOR WHICH HE WAS AWARDED THE HUMANITAS PRIZE. T. J. LIVES IN NEW YORK CITY.
Also by T. J. English
WHERE THE BODIES WERE BURIED
WHITEY’S PAYBACK
THE SAVAGE CITY
HAVANA NOCTURNE
PADDY WHACKED
BORN TO KILL
HTE WESTIES
First published in the United States of America 2018 by HarperCollins Publishers
First published 2018 in Pan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © T. J. English 2018
The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
EPUB format: 9781760559335
Designed by William Ruoto
Appendix chart © U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs © Leontura/Getty Images (gun); © NataLT/Shutterstock (texture); © millicookbook/Shutterstock (palm trees)
Love talking about books?
Find Pan Macmillan Australia online to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.