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Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (1932-) was an American NYPD detective who, in 1971, helped foil the "French Connection" drug trafficking conspiracy.

Biography[]

Buddy Russo was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York in 1932, and he came from a family of Italian descent. He became a detective in the New York Police Department's narcotics division, partnering with Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle. Russo was nicknamed "Cloudy" due to his pessimism, but he was more tame than his partner; he restrained Doyle from assaulting the drug dealer Willie Craven after a foot chase (even after Craven had cut Russo's arm with a shiv), and he also helped break up Doyle's fights with FBI agent Bill Mulderig. In 1971, he and Doyle foiled the "French Connection" drug trafficking ring, taking down the Lucchese crime family capo Salvatore Boca and arresting several other criminals at their drug deal with the French drug trafficker Alain Charnier at Wards Island. However, the two men were transferred out of the narcotics division and reassigned shortly after.

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