Joseph Deluca

Who was Joseph Deluca?

Joseph DeLuca was an Italian-American mobster who controlled the smuggling and distribution of narcotics with his brother Frank Deluca in Kansas City, Missouri for almost four decades.

Born Giuseppe DeLuca, DeLuca emigrated with his brother Frank from their native Sicily and eventually found his way to Kansas City, where he became major figures in Kansas City's underworld. Although having several arrests for federal narcotics violations since the 1930s, Deluca ran a major drug ring operation for mobster Joseph DiGiovanni until his arrest and eventually conviction in 1942, along with seven other members. In 1952, DeLuca and his brother were named two of the "Five Iron Men" of Kansas City by the US Senate Kefauver Committee.