I don't know how much is truth vs. legended; but I remember the conversations always going to drugs when the Genoveses family was brought up vs. the Gambinos.
I was much younger when my Great Uncles were alive; but I know I first heard about drugs in reference to the discusions when the Genovese family was discussed.
Wow. What a poorly written post that was. I think I should be off to bed at this point :P
Yes. Vito Genovese was into that. Some Genovese family members remained involved in that after he got busted, though it was more discreet due to a policy change. When the heat started turning up on the US Mafia, the Sicilians started handling distribution for them, making the US families' involvement in the background less obvious. Similarly they have sometimes used non-Mafia groups as supply sources or distribution fronts.