Hagen promised to try, but told him that if Brasi got word the Don was dead, not even Sonny would be able to restrain him. To cement the deal, Sollozzo also kidnapped the family consigliere, Tom Hagen, brought him to the deserted Joe's Diner in Brooklyn, and persuaded him to make a deal with Sonny. Sollozzo's men then attempted to murder Vito Corleone, assuming that Vito's oldest son Sonny, who seemed to want to go into the heroin trade, would take over the family. After they seemingly agreed to a deal, Sollozzo stabbed Brasi in the hand, while an assassin garroted Brasi from behind. Tattaglia saw through Brasi, but arranged for him to meet Sollozzo later one night. However, in the course of the meeting, Sonny Corleone admitted an interest, leading the Turk to think that if Vito died, Sonny would accept his deal.Ĭorleone sent Luca Brasi to Bruno Tattaglia's nightclub, under the pretense that the enforcer was unhappy with his family and sought better employment. Vito Corleone refused, however, feeling that the drug business is bad for the neighborhoods. He then went to the Corleone family to obtain money and protection from the police and courts. He also secretly had the support of Don Barzini, who assisted him in his business, and was the mastermind behind his scheme to dominate the narcotics business. Sollozzo arrived in New York and enlisted the aid of the Tattaglia family for his new heroin business, purchasing a warehouse in Midtown Manhattan from which to go about his business, as well as several fronts located in each borough of the city. Blood is a big expense." ―Virgil Sollozzo Making Deals " I don't like violence, Tom. He began to make contacts in the 1930s, and he was seen at the meeting of the Five Families after Giuseppe Mariposa's death in 1934.
He was seen as an ideal associate who would provide money for a family and not leak information to the police if he was caught, provided his wife and children back in Turkey were taken care of. Before World War II he was also involved in prostitution. Known as the Turk because he had a nose like a Turkish scimitar, and also listed as being very good with a knife, Sollozzo had already gained a reputation as a top narcotics man with poppy fields in Turkey and laboratories in Sicily and Marseilles.