Young Boys Inc.
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Young Boys Incorporated, also known as Y.B.I. was among the first African-American drug cartels that operated on street corners.
They controlled 80% of the heroin traffic[clarification needed] in Detroit, Michigan from the summer of 1978 through 1982. The group was formed by a small group of neighborhood friends in 1977. In the beginning, all of the boys were in their late teens. Dwayne Davis (a.k.a. Wonderful Wayne or WW), and Raymond Peoples were two of the founders who became bosses. A few years later Butch Jones (a.k.a. Big Boy) was paroled from prison and joined the organization. It was about this time that Y.B.I. split into three separate crews (WW, Big Boy and Raymond).
From the start, Y.B.I.'s main place of operation was the Dexter/Webb neighborhood on Detroit's west side. About two years after its formation, Y.B.I. completely took over the heroin trade in and around Detroit with sales estimated at about $750,000 per day. After the split, WW sent one of his top lieutenants to Boston to expand his operation. About a year after being in Boston, the crew he took to Boston with him, along with new members from Boston, took over most of that city's heroin trade. Sales peaked at about $50,000 per day. The organization in Detroit was seriously crippled in 1982, when in September of that year, it was alleged that Butch Jones ordered the execution of WW because of a turf dispute. WW was gunned down on the corner of Columbus and Lawton on Detroit's west side. A few months later, on December 7, Raymond Peoples, Butch Jones and 41 of Y.B.I.'s top Lieutenants were indicted, convicted, and later sentenced to long prison terms. Most people believed that because of WW's death none of his crew were indicted. After Raymond Peoples was released from prison he was shot to death as he sat in a car on the city's west side.
The lieutenants that WW sent to Boston,eric gions,Houston, mitchell,and Donald Norfleet, came back to Detroit after WW's death and took over what was left of Y.B.I.they operated for about another six years, taking the group to another level until several members we reindicted(Norfleet,along with his crew,before, crack cocaine became the drug of choice over heroin. One of his soldiers who came back from Boston with him was Steven Sealy. Sealy is best known for being gunned down and killed as he sat in Whitney Houston's Rolls Royce in front of a Boston club. In the car with him was his future brother in law, Bobby Brown. Butch Jones was released after serving 12 years in federal prison, but was eventually indicted again on drug and murder charges. Under US Federal Law, anyone who is convicted of a drug related murder is eligible for the death penalty. Facing such punishment, Jones cooperated with federal authorities for a lesser sentence.
YBI's reputation and system of organization impacted and influenced drug gangs nationally during the 1980s and 1990s. Y.B.I. had such an incredibly organized and structured drug ring that after their downfall other African-American Detroit drug cartels copied their strategy. Many gangs rose to prominence such "Best Friends", "Pony Down", "Black Mafia Family" and "The Chambers Brothers", who were featured in a Black Entertainment Television documentary series entitled "American Gangster".
