Operation Underworld: How the Mafia and U.S. Government Teamed Up to Win World War II

by Matthew Black

In 1978, the National Security Agency (NSA) declassified thirty thousand pages of documents that describe what was known as the “TO” spy ring. Oddly enough, the “TO” spy ring wasn’t spying for the Germans, but actually the Japanese, with Spanish diplomats in America passing information to them. There are several clues about information gathered in 1942 that match information shared by George in Surreptitious Entry. For example, George claimed that the chain involved spies in six major cities. It’s revealed by the NSA in the “TO” reports that there were six to eight operatives, each in a different city. The “TO” reports also indicate that the members of the Spanish diplomatic corps who were being used as spies were especially active in Washington, DC, and New York City, among other cities. There’s even a confirmed instance in 1942 when the Spanish consulate in New York City transmitted information about the movement of sixty-six ships coming out of New York Harbor.