Charles Albero was in trouble for truancy by the time he was nine years old. He was sent to the Elmira Reformatory in the 1920s. His first active prison sentence occurred in 1929. Albero was in a Lucky Luciano inspired multinational drug ring that operated from 1941-1945. Broken up in '45 the ring's members were from New York and California. The syndicate imported heroin from Mexico and distributed it throughout the United States. Albero's role in this outfit had him working from a base in East Harlem.