Charles "Vannie" Higgins (1897 – June 19, 1932) was a New York mobster and one of the most prominent bootleggers during the Prohibition era. Known as "Brooklyn's Last Irish Boss", Higgins was notorious for his ability to escape conviction for the crimes for which he was charged.

Higgins was born in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York in 1897. Learning pickpocketing and petty theft as a child, by 1916, he had been arrested for assault twice but was put on probation. At the beginning of Prohibition he had formed a small-time gang which started to operate outside of Bay Ridge after taking control of "Big Bill" Bill Dwyer's bootlegging operations with partner Frank Costello in 1927, importing high quality Canadian liquor for Dwyer's high-society clientele.

By the mid-1920s, Higgins' rum-running operations included a fleet of taxis and loading trucks, as well as several planes and numerous speedboats which were used in smuggling alcohol into the United States from Canada (one of which, the Cigarette, was described as "the fastest rum-runner in New York waters"). Higgins, himself a flying enthusiast and licensed pilot, often used his planes for personal use.

During a business trip in Baltimore, Higgins was a witness to a gang fight between rival bootleggers while visiting a local speakeasy. When he decided to leave the premises, he was mistaken for one of the fighting bootleggers and shot in the leg by a local police officer.

Higgins soon began moving into Manhattan, where he would come into conflict with Dutch Schultz. During the Manhattan Beer War, Higgins aligned himself with Jack "Legs" Diamond, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, and Anthony "Little Augie Pisano" Carfano against Schultz.

Higgins, Bailey and another gunman were arrested several weeks later in connection with the death of Brooklyn bootlegger Samuel Orlando, identified by witnesses as the rival gangsters who had gunned Orlando down. By the time of his trial, however, none of the witnesses could be found and he was acquitted of all charges.

Several months later, Higgins and Bailey were shot at in an attempted drive-by shooting by rival gunmen, although the two, driving in another car at the time of the attack, were able to escape their pursuers. When Higgins acquired a shipment of grenades from a military arsenal, he and "Legs" Diamond used them against Schulz's speakeasies during their battles with the rival gangster.

Although almost always surrounded by bodyguards, Higgins had earned a reputation for recklessness in gang battles as his offices and residence were known to be well-stocked with weapons. Higgins reportedly stated "I don't let my boys take risks I don't take." at the scene of many gun battles between himself and Schultz during 1928. During one such incident, Higgins and gunman William "Bad Bill" Bailey were seen fleeing the scene after fighting rival gunmen at Brooklyn's Owl Head Cafe at 69th Street and Third Avenue in which a patrolman Daniel J Maloney was killed in the crossfire by fellow arriving police officers in March 1929.