John Spurdis was a decorated police detective with the NYPD. In 1972 he was involved in a "French Connection" bust of Mafiosi, including Lucchese family member Joseph DiNapoli. DiNapoli was arrested near a Bronxdale Avenue, Bronx residence on a rainy evening in February 1972. He was accompanied by drug trafficker Vincent C. Papa. NYPD officials, including Spurdis, were on hand for the surveillance and subsequent arrests. Spurdis was soon dismissed when a quantity of the seized narcotics became missing mysteriously.