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As government agents dismantle Saccoccia's web, they marvel at his sophistication. "He was a tough micromanager who dictated every piece of the operation and castigated his subordinates regularly for not doing deals fast enough," says Charles Domroe, who heads the FBI's narcotics unit in New York. "He is also the first known launderer to serve both the Medellin and the Cali cartels." Among those indicted with Saccoccia is a man he allegedly answered to, a Miami-based trafficker for the Cali group named Duvan ("Uncle") Arboleda, who slipped quietly and safely back to Colombia two months ago.
Saccoccia wasn't as lucky -- or as careful. When his cash deposits became suspiciously large, banks tipped off the IRS. Then, in a display of cooperation rarely seen in the financial industry, 10 banks agreed to continue taking the money as federal agents watched. Saccoccia's final mistake may have been his failure, quite literally, to wash the greenbacks before laundering them. In March 1990, Saccoccia and an aide delivered to a bank $53,000 packaged in 53 bundles. The currency was tested by a cocaine-sniffing German shepherd named Basko, which promptly went "bonkers," says an agent. A day later, another bank received a Saccoccia deposit. Basko went berserk again. And again and again, in bank after bank.
One small bank allegedly used by the launderers, Heritage Loan and Investment Co., utterly refused to help the feds. But that shouldn't surprise Rhode Islanders. Heritage collapsed earlier this year, taking the state's system of 45 privately insured banks and credit unions with it. The bank's fugitive president, Joseph Mollicone Jr., who is accused of embezzling $13 million, was initially a target of the Polar Cap probe. On the same day last fall that state examiners were inside Heritage reviewing the books, one of Saccoccia's aides turned up at a teller's window with $52,600 in cash.
Officials predict that the demise of this global ring will reverberate through the drug trade for years to come. The Saccoccias, who are rumored to be returning voluntarily to the U.S. from Switzerland this week to face charges, allegedly commanded as much as 10% of the U.S. drug-money laundering market. "Money is the fuel that feeds the drug lords," says Commissioner of Customs Carol Hallett. "And we just cut off one very big pipeline."