Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Queens Father and Son Who Smuggled Cocaine Found Guilty of Trafficking

By Kathleen Culliton | July 22, 2016 7:45pm | Updated on July 24, 2016 1:19pm
 Cucino A Modo Mio hosted a World Cup party in 2014, as well as a transnational drug trafficking business, according to court documents.
Cucino A Modo Mio hosted a World Cup party in 2014, as well as a transnational drug trafficking business, according to court documents.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Katie Honan

CORONA — A father and son who used yucca shipments to traffic cocaine from Costa Rica to their restaurant in Queens were convicted on Friday, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gregorio Gigliotti, 60 and his son Angelo Gigliotti, 36, were both found guilty of drug trafficking, the statement said.

“This family run business served more than just pizza to its customers,” Homeland Security Investigations agent Angel M. Melendez said in the statement. 

“Like father like son, both of these defendants will likely be spending the next several years in jail.”

The elder Gigliotti was also charged with criminal possession of weapons which included a 12-gauge shotgun, a Czech pistol and brass knuckles, according to the statement.

The two Gigliottis ran their drug-trafficking operation from Cucino A Modo Mio, the family’s Italian restaurant in Corona, and used import company Fresh Farm Produce Export Corp. to bring in the cocaine, according to the the statement.

Yucca was not featured on the Cucina A Modo Mio menu posted to AllMenus.com.

Law enforcement officers first discovered the smuggled narcotics in 2014 when they intercepted two yucca shipments to Fresh Farm Produce from Costa Rica that contained 55 kilograms of cocaine, the statement said.

The Gigliottis were later arrested in 2015 at Cucino Amodo Mio, where the officers found seven guns, loose ammunition, brass knuckles and more than $100,000 in cash in the restaurant, the statement said.

When the Gigliottis opened a beer piazza in the restaurant’s backyard in 2014, the son told DNAinfo New York that the family just wanted to give guests "give a home feeling" of their hometown in Calabria, Italy.

Gregorio Gigliotti faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and Angelo Gigliotti faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The trial was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers who represented the Eastern District of New York.

Capers said in a statement, “This case serves as a powerful example of the impact of international cooperation in combatting [SIC] criminal organizations whose activities transcend national borders.”