Gun smuggling, Swiss bank accounts, Fidel Castro and the New Kensington mafia converge on the pages of Richard Gazarik’s newest book, a harrowing tale of local ties to the criminal underworld.

In his seventh release, Greensburg resident Gazarik dives into declassified FBI files stemming from the mafia’s grip on New Kensington in the 1950s and the gun-running operation that set off from an airstrip in West Deer.

“It was more than just a local story. It was of national importance,” said Gazarik, a Tarentum native and retired TribLive investigative reporter.

“What people didn’t realize at the time was that the mafia in New Ken was an aggressive faction.”

Gazarik will be the guest speaker Sunday at Tarentum’s history museum to discuss his book, “Gun Smuggling, Castro’s Cuba and the Pittsburgh Mafia,” published in January by The History Press.

The saga follows a small Beechcraft 18-D plane that carried more than 1,000 pounds of weapons wrangled in a heist from the National Guard in Ohio. The guns were set to be smuggled into Cuba for Castro. Mafia members wanted to butter him up in hopes he would allow them to operate casinos there.

“The leader of the New Ken mafia had designs on being the new gambling czar in Cuba if Castro took over,” Gazarik said.

Museum Director Jim Thomas said anyone interested in local history won’t want to miss the event.

“It’s hard to believe all this happened in our own backyard,” he said. “Everyone is always asking about the mafia in New Ken, especially the younger people who haven’t heard as many stories. They want to learn about it.”

Gazarik, who grew up on 11th Avenue in Tarentum, has written volumes about notorious local history. Since penning his first book 11 years ago, he’s released several that highlight infamous tales of the Alle-Kiski Valley, including “Black Valley: The Life and Death of Fannie Sellins,” about the labor activist who was killed in Natrona during a 1919 mine strike.

Another book focused on the late Rev. James Cox, a pro-labor activist who established a settlement of two-room homes along Calmwood Road in O’Hara during the Great Depression. Those hardest hit by unemployment at the time were able to live in the place known as Coxtown.

During his four decades in journalism, Gazarik wrote extensively about courts, crime and corruption. While he retired 10 years ago, his curiosity still is hard at work.

“I always planned to write books after I retired,” Gazarik said. “It has been my goal ever since I was a college student. I love the research.”