Frank Lucas: Difference between revisions
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frank lucas'' (born [[September 9]], [[1930]] in [[La Grange, North Carolina|La Grange]], [[North Carolina]])<ref name="metromagazine">[http://www.metronc.com/between_issues/ "Frank Lucas, Between Issues"] ''Metro Magazine'', [[8 November]] [[2007]].</ref> is a former [[heroin]] dealer and organized crime boss in [[Harlem]] during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for [[disintermediation|cutting out middlemen]] in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in [[Southeast Asia]]. Frank Lucas is popularly known for smuggling heroin from [[Vietnam]] using the coffins of dead American servicemen <ref name="nym2000">[http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/3649/ "The Return of Superfly"] ''[[New York Magazine]]'', [[14 August]] [[2000]].</ref> |
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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Revision as of 19:32, 4 February 2008
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Frank Lucas | |
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| Born | September 9, 1931 |
| Occupation | Former drug lord |
frank lucas (born September 9, 1930 in La Grange, North Carolina)[1] is a former heroin dealer and organized crime boss in Harlem during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was particularly known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in Southeast Asia. Frank Lucas is popularly known for smuggling heroin from Vietnam using the coffins of dead American servicemen [2]
Career
He claimed to have made US$1 million a day selling drugs on 116th Street.[2] Federal judge Sterling Johnson, who was special narcotics prosecutor in New York at the time of Lucas' crimes, called Lucas' operation "one of the most outrageous international dope-smuggling gangs ever, an innovator who got his own connections outside the U.S. and then sold the narcotics himself in the street." He had connections with the Sicilian and Mexican mobs, holding an enormous monopoly on the heroin market in Manhattan. In an interview with Lucas (75 years old) he said, "I wanted to be rich. I wanted to be Donald Trump rich, and so help me God, I made it."[2]
According to an interview dated August 14, 2000 with New York Magazine,[2] Lucas relied on a tightly controlled crew called "The Country Boys". He preferred using relatives and men from his hometown in North Carolina because they were less likely to steal from him and were not used to city living. His heroin "Blue Magic" was 100% pure when shipped from Asia and sold at 2% purity on the street; In this direct quote from the article, Lucas was worth "something like $52 million," most of it in Cayman Islands banks. Added to this is "maybe 1,000 keys (kilograms), (2205 pounds), of dope on hand" with a potential profit of no less than $300,000 per kilo. Also in his portfolio were office buildings in Detroit, apartments in Los Angeles and Miami. There was also "Frank Lucas's Paradise Valley," a several-thousand-acre spread back in North Carolina on which ranged 300 head of Black Angus cows, including a breeding bull worth $125,000.[citation needed]
Lucas rubbed shoulders with the elite in entertainment, politics, and crime, even meeting Howard Hughes at one of Harlem's best clubs in his day. Though he owned several mink and chinchilla coats and other accessories, Frank Lucas much preferred to dress very casually and corporately as to not attract attention to himself. He fathered 1 child.http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/26/432807.aspx[citation needed]
When he was arrested in the mid-70's, all of Lucas' assets were seized by the government.
Arrest and release
In 1975, Frank Lucas was arrested in New Jersey by detective Richie Roberts and was convicted of both federal and New Jersey state drug violations. In 1976, he was sentenced to 70 years in prison. Once convicted, Lucas provided evidence that led to more than 100 drug-related convictions.[3] His sentence was reduced and changed to parole, so that he was released from prison in 1981. In 1984 he was arrested again and convicted for new drug violations and a parole violation. He received a sentence of seven years and was released from prison in 1991.[4]
Film
The story of Frank Lucas was told by the film American Gangster, directed by Ridley Scott. In the film, released on November 2, 2007, Lucas is portrayed by Denzel Washington. Lucas and his former competitor, Nicky Barnes, sat down with New York magazine's Mark Jacobson recently for a historic conversation between men who have not spoken to each other in 30 years.[5] A group of DEA agents has filed a class-action suit against Universal Pictures claiming that the film defamed them and hundreds of other agents. According to some real-life sources involved with investigating Lucas, the movie was largely inaccurate, and glorified a villain.[6][7]
See also
References
- ^ "Frank Lucas, Between Issues" Metro Magazine, 8 November 2007.
- ^ a b c d "The Return of Superfly" New York Magazine, 14 August 2000.
- ^ U.S. Jury Convicts Heroin Informant, The New York Times, August 25, 1984.
- ^ Drug Dealer Gets New Prison Term. The New York Times, September 11, 1984.
- ^ "Lords of Dopetown". New York Magazine, 5 November 2007.
- ^ Is 'American Gangster' really all that 'true'? CNN January 22 2008
- ^ DEA agents sue over 'American Gangster'
External links
- "The real rap on Bumpy", Philadelphia Daily News, November 5, 2007
- Susannah Cahalan, "Ganging up on movie's lies", New York Post, November 4, 2007
- The Raid in Teaneck - prologue to Superfly: The True Untold Story of Frank Lucas, American Gangster by Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez
- American Gangster movie site
- Frank Lucas' Daughter Speaks[1]
- The Raid in Teaneck by Ron Chepesiuk and Anthony Gonzalez [2]