Nufio Abate was a Genovese Family soldier operating in New Jersey whose close, personal association with one of the Garden State’s most respected and feared mafioso brought Abate to the attention of federal authorities. That man was Settimo (Big Sam) Accardi.
Abate was an important cog in Accardi’s rackets, including gambling and bootlegging, but most importantly, international narcotics smuggling. Both the FBI and the FBN believed that before Abate immigrated to the U.S., he may have been Accardi’s drug contact or courier in Italy who helped smuggle drugs into the U.S. But despite being the “right-hand man” and “closest associate” to his notorious brother-in-law, Nufio Abate still successfully led a shadowy hoodlum life and remained relatively low-profile.