NEW YORK —
Five men believed to be mobsters were taken into custody on Thursday on charges of murder and other crimes linked to an long-unsolved 1978 Lufthansa heist at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, an FBI spokeswoman said.
The arrests in the three-decades-old crime, made famous by the 1990 film Goodfellas, were the result of an FBI search last summer at the New York home of James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, said FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser.
Burke, the suspected mastermind of the heist, died in prison in 1996 while serving time for the murder of a drug dealer. Robert De Niro played a character based on Burke in the film.
The five men are reputed mobsters associated with New York's Bonnano crime family, a federal law enforcement source said Thursday.
Vincent Asaro was among four suspects arrested in early morning raids on Thursday by FBI agents and a fifth man surrendered to authorities, Langmesser said.
The arrests in the three-decades-old crime, made famous by the 1990 film Goodfellas, were the result of an FBI search last summer at the New York home of James “Jimmy the Gent” Burke, said FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser.
Burke, the suspected mastermind of the heist, died in prison in 1996 while serving time for the murder of a drug dealer. Robert De Niro played a character based on Burke in the film.
The five men are reputed mobsters associated with New York's Bonnano crime family, a federal law enforcement source said Thursday.
Vincent Asaro was among four suspects arrested in early morning raids on Thursday by FBI agents and a fifth man surrendered to authorities, Langmesser said.