The real Goodfellas: FBI arrest New York mafia suspected of carrying out the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist

Five suspected mobsters have been arrested for their part in the 1978 Lufthansa heist at New York's Kennedy International Airport

The robbery was famously featured in the Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas

The arrests of four men and surrender of a fifth follows a discovery by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of human remains at a New York property in June

The home was once owned by James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke last summer - who was played by Robert De Niro in Goodfellas



This is the first time any accused member of the mafia has ever faced charges in connection with the crime



The December 11, 1978, heist was one of the largest cash thefts in American history

The cash was never found and only one conviction has ever been made

It has taken them over 30 years, but the FBI have finally charged members of the New York mafia with the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK - made famous by the movie Goodfellas.



Five high-ranking members of the Bonanno organized crime family were arrested and charged in pre-dawn raids on Thursday morning in connection with the $6 million robbery that is still one of the largest cash thefts in American history.



The arrests took place across New York and included Thomas 'Tommy D' DiDiore, who is believed to be the highest ranking member of the Bonanno family outside of prison and Vincent Asaro, 78, who is alleged to be a captain, or capo in the ranks of the crime family.

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Arrest: Vincent Vinny Asaro, second from right, has been charged over the the infamous Lufthansa heist of 1978 Charges: Vincent Asaro, an alleged captain in the Bonanno crime family, has denied allegations that he was involved in the robbert

Boss: Thomas (Tommy D) DiFiore , reportedly connected to the Bonanno crime family, is escorted by FBI agents out of a federal building in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday after being charged in connection with the Lufthansa heist of 1978

Pinched: Two of five men arrested by the FBI this morning in connection with the infamous Lufthansa heist of 1978 leaves the court in Brooklyn



Investigation: One of the five men arrested by the FBI is escorted by agents

Tough guy: A man connected to the Bonanno crime family is escorted by FBI agents today in Brooklyn. Court papers unsealed in New York charge that the men were members of the Bonanno crime family

This is the first time any accused member of the mafia has ever faced charges in connection with the crime.

The arrests of the five men follows a discovery by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of human remains at a New York property tied to James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke last summer.



Burke, the suspected mastermind of the heist, died in prison in 1996 while serving time for the murder of a drug dealer. Actor Robert De Niro played a character based on Burke in the film.



Vincent Asaro, identified as one of the leaders of the Bonanno gang, was charged with the theft of $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry from the Lufthansa Terminal at Kennedy on December 11, 1978.



At the time, it was the biggest cash heist ever in the United States. The stolen $5 million would be worth $17.9 million in 2013 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.



The crime stumped investigators for years, but a break in the case came last summer during a search that turned up human remains buried at the former home of Burke.



The indictment charges Asaro with the murder of Paul Katz in 1969, as well as robbery, conspiracy and other charges tied to the 1978 heist.



The Asaros, both alleged captains in the Bonanno organized crime family, also were charged together in a 1984 robbery of $1.25 million worth of gold salts from a Federal Express employee.

Information on their attorneys was not immediately available.



Iconic: The multi-million dollar heist was made famous in the 1990 film Goodfellas

Burke owned Robert's Lounge, the saloon that a fellow Lucchese associate, the late Henry Hill - played by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas - described as Burke's private cemetery.



'Jimmy buried over a dozen bodies ... under the bocce courts,' Hill wrote in his book, 'A Goodfella's Guide to New York.'



Law enforcement have said that the arrested are Bonanno crime family members Vincent Asaro, 78; Jerome Asaro, 55; Thomas 'Tommy D' DiFiore, 70; John 'Bazoo' Ragano, 52; and Jack Bonventre, whose age isn't known.



Two of the suspects live in Queens, two in Long Island and one in upstate New York.

Life and film: James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke is led handcuffed from a law enforcenemt vehicle in this April 1979 file photo - and (right) as portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 1990 film Goodfellas

The exact connection between the search of Burke's home in Queens and the Lufthansa heist has not been made clear by the FBI as of Thursday.



Before today the only person ever convicted in connection with the robbery was airport insider, Louis Werner - who tipped off the men who stole the money.

The theft occurred in the middle of the night on December 11, 1978 and netted the robbers more than $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewels.



At the time, it was the largest heist ever in America and led to a huge, decades-long search for the perpetrators that until now has been fruitless.



Six masked gunman took 64 minutes to steal the packets of cash, toss them into a van and escape.



The FBI has always agreed with the plot of the movie Goodfellas about all loose connections to the robbery being killed off by paranoid mob bosses.

Anger: The character of Jimmy Conway - played by Robert De Niro - becomes angry in the aftermath of the Lufthansa robbery and begins to kill those associated with the heist

Iconic: The 1990 Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas is considered by some to be one of the best movies about organized crime in modern American history

Federal agents believe that Asaro was the key mafia overseer for JFK and as such would have been informed of Burke's plan to rob the currency shipment from West Germany.

The indictment charges Asaro with the murder of Paul Katz in 1969, as well as robbery, conspiracy and other charges tied to the 1978 heist.



ABC News reported Katz was killed, and his remains buried, because Burke believed he was working with law enforcement.



Burke was a specialist in hijacking and was arrrested in 1982 for a parole violation and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for match fixing involving the Boston College basketball team.

During his prison term, Burke was indicted for the murder of a known drug dealer whose body was found tied up hanging in a freezer truck in Brooklyn.

He was sentenced to 20 years to life for second-degree murder and died behind bars in 1996, at age 64, almost two decades after the airport robbery.