Alpo is currently in the federal Bureau of Prisons Witsec program, allegedly being housed in the cheese factory at FCI Otisville, New York. during January and February 1988 for between $9,000 and $9,500. It appears, Brian "Waterhead Bo" Bennet was a MUCH larger coke dealer than Freeway Rick Ross . Prince, Supreme and other team members have also done interviews in Don Diva, As Is and Feds magazines. Alberto Alpo Martinez, Rich Porter and Azie Faison were teenage drug lords from 1980s Harlem. The chemist used baking soda and ether in the conversion process. Bennett and Villabona were convicted of operating a continuing criminal enterprise. His Feds magazine interview jumpstarted the whole street magazine genre and in the 2007 film American Gangster he was played by Cuba Gooding Jr. Barnes is currently out of prison and in the federal Witness Protection Program. Blandon was certainly a major supplier, but there were plenty of others. Crack," he responded: "It's possible. concerning Ross' and Blandon's roles in the spread of crack cocaine across the nation. The San Jose Mercury News series, "Dark Alliance," made certain Sometimes late at night my wife or I would see them carrying big brown paper bags stuffed with cash. assertion that he was solely or even principally responsible for the explosive growth of Inciardi, James, "Crack Cocaine in Miami," The Gallery. View the profiles of people named Waterhead Bo. California -- the Crips' and Bloods' first direct-connect to the cocaine cartels of It was a bold but necessary business decision. at a time. communities of South Central Los Angeles. He was known for making millions in cash, allegedly earning $300 million annually and sending couriers to L.A. with $3 to $4 million at a time to buy 200 kilo shipments of cocaine through Crip gang members Melvin Butler and Brian Waterhead Bo Bennett, who had contacts with the Cali Cartel in Colombia. the epidemic that occurred in the city of Los Angeles. He was truly a ghetto king. soda in the late '70s. Among the thousands of high rollers who converged on Las Vegas in April 1987 for the title fight between Sugar Ray Leonard and Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com. purchased from Blandon. He fled with $20 million dollars and has not been heard of or from since. Close. Fat Cat is currently in twenty four hour lockdown in the New York State system and Pappy is at ADX Florence with the other black gangster legends. High quality Waterhead Bo-inspired gifts and merchandise. cocaine that flooded in [through Blandon's drug ring] helped spark a crack explosion in one of the sources of his drugs. ; Sanchez, C.C., Del Pozo, T. & Fernandez, M., Journal Matthews led a flamboyant lifestyle, wearing large sable mink coats and full length leather suits- he was who the movie Superfly was about and who Frank Lucas wished he was. Dr. Inciardi reports that in 1980, coca paste smoking was popular in the Caribbean. He was the crazy guy that crazy guys were scared of. During a hearing held by the House Select Committee on Narcotic Abuse and Control on July Start your free 30-day trial. Angeles police reports indicated the seizure of rock-like narcotic substances in glassine "a few people I used to hear about," and he named several. 5 Comments 47 Shares. occasionally given partial credit when he did not have enough cash to pay for a delivery. 1981 or 1982, or sometime during 1983 or 1984. an ambitious entrepreneur who thrived in optimal market conditions: the Colombian cocaine Dr. Siegel believes that crack cocaine was imported to the Federal and local officials said Brian (Waterhead Bo) Bennett, who recently moved to Tempe, Ariz., from South-Central Los Angeles, and Mario Ernesto Villabona-Alvarado, a Colombian national, had organized a nationwide drug ring headquartered in Los Angeles that distributed 1,000 kilogramsmore than a tonof crack cocaine a week. 30 Dec 2021 Read our guides to club and sports team management. During his time supplying D.C.s narcotics markets its estimated Alpo was taking in around $1 million a month. By the time Ross' operation Everybody was working for Tootie Reese. Frank Matthews was the biggest black drug dealer ever. Alpo has been the subject of many documentaries and Don Diva covered the Rich Porter story in their article Hell up in Harlem. College indicate that Ross enrolled there in January 1979. enormous amounts of crack into Los Angeles, and elsewhere, during the mid-1980s. One of the most mentioned drug lords in hip-hop is also one of the most infamous. Cookie Notice Tootie was a businessman and stayed hip to current trends. Fisher." Bennett's good fortune began when Oscar instructed Villabona to develop a market for crack in ghetto areas. both by Ross' and Blandon's frequently shifting accounts of when they met. anticipation that it would reduce the domestic production of cocaine hydrochloride. Los Angeles, St. Louis, and the state of Texas, but did not mention Seattle, Louisiana, or They can follow me all they want, Tony Bennett said over a pay phone in front of a fast-food restaurant, according to one undercover officer who said he listened to Tonys end of the conversation. outgrowth of crack in Los Angeles. Angeles version of crack had its source in the Caribbean, or represented a simultaneous The Mercury News makes three principal allegations concerning the rise of crack He also did a lengthy Feds magazine interview, which helped launch that magazine and put the street magazine genre on the map nationally. With the top back in my Sox hat/Im paid in full, the nigga Alpo couldnt stop that/even if they brought the nigga Pac back/Ill still keep this muthafucka cocked back- My Life, L.A.X. clear. The mommys boy has been profiled in numerous magazines and books. The familys life began to change drastically two years ago when, according to investigators, Brian Bennett began buying and selling the cocaine that Villabona rovided. But Rayful was eventually caught and busted again. Bennetts mother moved to Los Angeles with several children from Michigan, remarried and had several more, according to a neighbor on Florence Avenue. community in Los Angeles. interviewed -- and LA CI-1, it appears that Blandon did not develop his Colombian source I played the part, I helped." Blandon's account above and with an estimate Blandon made in July 1990 during a Nonetheless, the Mercury News' assertion that cocaine A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? The Black Mafia Family was a drug organization run by Big Meech and his brother, Terry Southwest T Flenory, that originally operated out of Detroit, Michigan but spread south and west as Big Meech made Atlanta his base and Southwest T ran his part of the family out of L.A. With Mexican based drug cartels supplying them unlimited kilos of cocaine, the Black Mafia Family made $270 million over a 15 year period. the gang's two leaders, brian "waterhead bo" bennett and mario ernesto villabona alvarado, faced mandatory life prison sentences without possibility of parole under a federal drug-kingpin law.the other four convicted friday with bennett and villabona by a u.s. district court jury could each receive prison terms of 10 years to life at a july 30 By the mid-1980s, the price of powdered cocaine had fallen, in part because sales to affluent whites had peaked. populations in Miami and New York. were relatively small at the beginning of their relationship, growing considerably as time operation in the mid-1980s. Page Flip. classes there for one semester, from January 1981 to May 1981. Unique Waterhead Bo stickers featuring millions of original designs created and sold by independent artists. the amounts he sold Ross ranged from 50 kilos in a week, to nothing. We don't want too many people knowing The Waterhead Inn is located an easy stroll from Ambleside centre, just a stones throw from Windermere. It remained unclear in the wake of Bennetts arrest how someone with as modest a criminal background became a partner of Mario Ernesto Villabona-Alvarado, a Colombian cocaine kingpin who was arrested earlier this month and allegedly supplied Bennett with millions of dollars of cocaine each week. Frank Matthews money was so long, the Corsicans of the famed French Connection bypassed the mob and decided to deal directly with him. The other four convicted Friday with Bennett and Villabona by a U.S. District Court jury could each receive prison terms of 10 years to life at sentencing scheduled July 30. About. No more Big Willie, my game has grown/prefer you call me Wi1liam/i11 in for revenues/Rayful Edmond/like channel sevens news/round seven Jews/head dead in the mic/forgetting all I ever knew- Can I Live, Reasonable Doubt (1996) Jay-Z. Sticky notes. During 1982 or 1983, he recalled receiving September 3, 1989. across the country. black neighborhoods" until Blandon brought it to South Central Los Angeles "at Prince and others ended up with life sentences due to the violence attributed to them but Supreme got off with a relatively light 12 year sentence and returned to the streets to be embraced by the hip-hop world. may indeed have been one of the first black dealers in South Central Los Angeles to forge one of the earliest appearances of crack was in the Caribbean, especially the Bahamas. Availability of Cocaine in South Central Los Angeles, Cocaine was a status drug for the wealthy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The OIG He is currently housed at ADX Florence in Colorado with his many peers. To give you an idea, Freeway Ricky Ross was one of Tooties first major successors. when we asked him about dealing cocaine in various cities, he conceded that he was not the The Mercury News' contention that Blandon was a prime factor in the growth of $2.5 million in cash. It is unclear whether Villabona's tie to these South Central dealers preceded Ross' The game in LA was jumping during the crack era and one of the biggest dealers in the city was Brian "Waterhead Bo" Bennett. What is STIMEY? The newspapers blew up the bust of LAs black Godfather and made him seem a giant in LAs crack plagued drug world. Publication). demand that apply to most products: when supply is abundant, prices fall; when there is A further weakness in the claim that Ross and Blandon are responsible for the spread of based on the accounts of Blandon, Carlos Rocha -- one of Blandon's associates whom the OIG Each of the six defendants was convicted of conspiring to possess thousands of kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute and of possessing nearly 1,000 kilograms of cocaine each. There were tons of articles and news clippings on Tootie back in the day, the LA Crip says. The OIG was unable to precisely determine when Villabona For example, a survey taken in 1986 by Dr. Inciardi of Kansas City. kilos of cocaine in Tyler and Dallas, Texas, from 1984 through 1986; 10 to 15 kilos of Portuguese products available Online we mail to all lower 48 states. 1970s and early 1980s. From our interviews of both Ross and Blandon, we know that this He denied that Ross paid him millions of dollars for this transaction. At a young age, with the help of a Colombian connection, Bo was able to conquer a legacy of being one of the largest West Coast kingpins of all time. #39 of 103 in Ambleside. Blandon, on the other hand, has asserted The man who was said to have inspired the 1970s hit Big, Bad Leroy Brown betrayed the street code he lived by and has gone down in infamy as one of the biggest rats ever. crack cocaine in Los Angeles during that period. Investigations on July 15, 1986, after the crack cocaine crisis had begun here, Dr. Byck "rock houses" began in 1983. LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Six members of an international drug ring were convicted of distributing tons of cocaine in a case authorities say was one of the first to link a Colombian cocaine cartel to Los Angeles street gangs. behest of Mr. Fisher or after his arrest for grand theft auto, both accounts suggest that But I wouldn't have been Freeway Rick." coke to make it, so only dealers will probably do it."(60). 6. Bahamian coca paste epidemic was caused by the Colombian government's successful attempt By the mid-1980s, when cocaine was flowing into the inner-city in noticeable amounts, Tootie was a dinosaur. were dealing cocaine in the early days of his organization. The smug arrogance portrayed by Barnes in the photo so affronted President Jimmy Carter that he ordered his Attorney General to prosecute Barnes to the fullest extent of the law. at Venice Gilson Trade School, where he met "Mr. One white drug dealer remembers Reese pulling a shotgun on him in the 1970s to ensure that he could purchase a pound of cocaine, but with tons of cocaine reaching our shores a year in the 1980s, it became nothing for young drug dealers to have 20 or 40 kilos. Team members communicated in coded languages and numerical systems. report. At the beginning of the 1980s, the national wholesale price for a His old school tactics eventually led to his arrest in 1983 by the DEA, after Tootie made a multi-kilo cocaine deal and sold 2 kilos to an undercover officer. In Plus a forthcoming book Infamous Gangsters: Fat Cat, Rayful and Alpo, Legends of the Black Underworld. A number of magazine articles have covered his exploits also. (2008) The Game, Im like Rich Porter/the epitome of Alpo/Azie and Nicky Barnes/I rock charms- All We Got Is Us, Reunion (2000) Noreaga, Yo, Black is flashy like Alpo/gun happy like Pappy picture this young nigga/getting it like Rich Porter- 50 Bars of Pleasure, 50 Bars of Pain, Guess Whos Back (2002) 50 Cent, Dedicated to Rich Porters little brother/who died in the struggle/and never got recognized for it- All We Got Is Us, Reunion (2000) Noreaga, Uptown was Alpo, son, heard he was kingpin yo- Memory Lane, (Sittin in Da Park), Illmatic, (1994) Nas, Rest in peace to Rich and Ron/money what they was about, yo/the twins was from Queens/but got crazy cream with Alpo- Ghetto Quran, Guess Whos Back, (2002) 50 Cent, A seventeen year reign, simple and plain/when I ruled the rap game and all my peers sold cocaine / 1 3 2 Uptown, when Rich Porter told me/ See you can push a new car, its different for a rap star/and AZ was givin 50s to the homeless/they never bragged about it: L, we dont condone this- The Truth, LL Cool J, DJ Kay Slay mixtape, And Alpo ordered guys to slaughter guys/and the whole Harlem was in tears when Rich Porter died- I Remember When, Children of the Corn (2003) Camron, Im from where Rich and A hit the kitchen/they were pitchin up- Killa Kam, Purple Haze (2004) Camron, Im out of order/I turn your only daughter/into a transporter/before I die/Im gonna see more blow/than Rich Porter- 50 Cent, I dont want to be like Mike/more like Po and Porter/getting shipments at the border- Shyne, It aint about Rich and Po, nigga/its bout rich and po- Jay-Z, On the back of the bike with Alpo/doin a back down one-two-five/hopin to stay alive/favorite spot rooftop- LL Cool J, The twin brother of Rich Porter separated at birth/New Rich Porter, the way I flip quarters- Jay-Z, Im Alpo, before you snitch dog- Thats Gangsta, Shyne (2000) Shyne. He developed a Robin Hood reputation in D.C.s inner-city and was known for his flashy high end Italian designer suits, ready smile and the gorgeous women he kept in abundance around him. In addition, two of the accused--Mario Ernesto Villabona-Alvarado, 29, reputed to be a high-ranking member of the Cali, Colombia, cocaine cartel, and Brian (Waterhead Bo) Bennett, 25, a South . A study conducted in one of Ross' principal cities of operation, Cincinnati, Ohio, has College, where he played tennis for one or two years. Lastly, the Mercury News series asserted that Ross' and Blandon's drug network significant cocaine trafficker, many others in Cincinnati were as significant. cities, in Los Angeles primarily. government. This is far from and the Health Department of the Ministry of the Interior reported on a disturbing trend The RNU concluded that, while Ross was a He was the kingpin, especially in the fifties and sixties. A black leather jacket was a very popular item to own in the late '60s through the '70s. the OIG, if there was a "Johnny Appleseed of crack," it was that chemist. Fat Cat and Pappy have been the subject of many interviews and articles in magazines such as King, Don Diva, Feds and As Is, as Queens culture has flourished through hip-hop. . marca el rey chorizo recipes; journey to the savage planet cartographer deployment hatch; what does an auditor do in student council. Fat Cat took a different path, though equally dramatic, allegedly working a deal with the feds to protect his mother and sisters from doing any extensive jail time after being sentenced to 25 to life in the state for ordering Pappy to kill his parole officer. The others showed no emotion. project smoking crack as early as 1978. kilograms of cocaine for $10,000 a kilogram in 1987. Smokers were reportedly becoming so obsessed with their smoking that they The sight of six to eight young black men being buzzed in and out of the security apartment complex on South Gramercy was disconcerting to the Korean tenants, according to the manager of the apartment building. never claimed that Blandon, or any other Nicaraguan, taught him how to make crack cocaine. Under Supreme and Prince, the gang concentrated its criminal efforts on the widespread distribution of crack cocaine.