Early on Alphonse Attardi was a soldier in Salvatore D'Aquila's crime family. As a young man he was initiated into the Mafia in Sicily before coming to the United States around 1919. After D'Aquila's death in 1928 Attardi joined the Maranzano family which eventually became the Gambino family. In the 1930 Attardi was a target of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was arrested in Texas and extradited back to New York City. Attardi and his wife Jose were part of a drug running operation that extended from Europe to the Northeast U.S., Texas and Louisiana.