Gaetano Badalamenti (1923 - April 29, 2004) was an Italian-born Mafioso who was connected with the Pizza Connection drug smuggling scheme.

Gaetano Badalamenti was born in Cinisi , Italy. During World War II, he served in the Italian army as an infantry soldier. After the war he joined Sicilian Cosa Nostra. He rose in ranks until he became a don with a moniker Don Tano and by the 1950s was one of the ruling triumvirate of Sicilian organized crime, alongside Luciano Liggio and Stefano Bontade . He was also involved with Tomaso Buscetta .

Badalamenti was also rumored to have been involved with the deal between Lucky Luciano and US armed forces to help them take over Sicily, but he later denied that.

Badalamenti was ousted from power when new boss of bosses, Salvatore "Toto" Riina, took over in the 1970s. 1979 he moved to Brazil through Spain and settled to Sao Paulo.

After 1975, Badalamenti allied with Salvatore Catalano of New York Bonanno family and was involved with the "Pizza Connection " case, where mafia smuggled millions worth of heroin and cocaine to USA using mafia-owned pizzerias as distribution points. When FBI began to close in 1984, Badalamenti fled to Spain but was arrested in Madrid.

In 1985 Gaetano and others involved with the case were charged with illegal narcotics trade, conspiracy against the RICO Act and for money laundering. Prosecutors also said that they were responsible for murders in USA and Sicily.

Trial against Badalamenti and his allies took 17 months. During it Badalamentis and Catalanos testified against each other and. On June 22 1987 Badalamenti was convicted only of money laundering but sentenced to 45 years in prison and fines worth $125.000. Only his son Vito Badalamenti was released.

Later Italian court convicted him of a 1978 murder of a disc jockey in absentia and sentenced him for a life in prison. In 2002 he was acquitted of the 1979 murder of Italian journalist Mino Pecorelli ; in this case, Italian ex-prime minister Giulio Andreotti was also in trial.

Gaetano Badalamenti died of cardiac arrest.