The Council (drug syndicate)

Last updated
The Council
Founding location Harlem, New York City, United States
Years active1972 - 1983
TerritoryHarlem, New York City
Ethnicity African American
Membership7
Activities Drug trafficking, Murder, Robbery
Allies Lucchese Crime Family, East Harlem Purple Gang [1]
RivalsVarious gangs in New York City including their allies

The Council was an African-American organized crime syndicate in New York City that controlled the heroin trade in the Harlem area of the city during the 1970s. Formed by Nicky Barnes in 1972, the seven-man organization ran the heroin trade in Harlem, handled local criminal disputes, and solved other issues related to the drug trade. [2] The Council was heavily connected to the Italian-American Mafia in New York City, where Matthew Madonna of the Lucchese crime family supplied the group with raw heroin, which was then diluted and distributed in Harlem. At its peak, Council-manufactured heroin began to be distributed across New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, as far west as Arizona, and even into Canada. [3] Nicky Barnes was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978, and in 1982 he became a federal informant, with his testimony leading to the dissolution of The Council in 1983. [2]

Contents

Members

The Council included seven people:

See also

Related Research Articles

The Black Mafia, also known as the Philadelphia Black Mafia (PBM), Black Muslim Mafia and Muslim Mob, was a Philadelphia-based African-American organized crime syndicate. The organization began in the 1960s as a relatively small criminal collective in South Philadelphia, known for holding up neighborhood crap games and dealing in the illegal drug business, but at its height of operation in the early 1970s until about the early 1980s, it managed to consolidate power and control a large portion of criminal activity in various African-American neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, including South Jersey, Chester, and Wilmington. In addition to drug trafficking, burglary, and armed robbery, the Black Mafia was also engaged in traditional organized crime activities such as political corruption, extortion, racketeering, prostitution, loansharking, number running, and other illegal gambling rackets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Barnes</span> American convicted drug trafficker

Leroy Nicholas Barnes was an American crime boss, active in New York City during the 1970s.

<i>Carlitos Way: Rise to Power</i> 2005 American film

Carlito's Way: Rise to Power is a 2005 prequel to Brian De Palma's 1993 film Carlito's Way. It is based on the 1975 novel Carlito's Way by Edwin Torres. The previous film was based on the 1979 Torres novel After Hours, but was retitled to avoid it being confused with Martin Scorsese’s 1985 film of the same name. The film was written and directed by Michael Bregman, who produced the first film. His father, Martin Bregman, produced both films. The film was released in limited theaters 20 days prior to being released on DVD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)</span> Opium-producing region in Southeast Asia

The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green, a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade. Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction, with an Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, and a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation.

Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City of the D'Aquila crime family, what would later become known as the Gambino crime family.

The Flying Dragons, also known as FDS, was a Chinese American street gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Formed in 1967, by immigrants primarily from Hong Kong, they are affiliated with the Hip Sing Tong. Throughout the 1980s, the gang often engaged in bloody turf wars with the newer Ghost Shadows gang. Their activities have included extortion, kidnapping, murder, racketeering, and illegal gambling. The gang moved heavily into heroin trafficking after the Italian-American Mafia lost the trade as a result of the Pizza Connection prosecutions in the mid-1980s.

Guy Thomas Fisher is an American former mobster and drug lord who was once part of "The Council", an African-American crime organization that controlled the heroin trade in Harlem from 1972 to 1983. He became the first black man to own and operate the Apollo Theater in Harlem when he purchased it in 1977. On October 28, 2020, Guy Fisher was released from federal custody on a medical pardon.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, African American organized crime emerged following the first and second large-scale migration of African Americans from the Southern United States to major cities of the Northeast, Midwest, and later the West Coast. In many of these newly established communities and neighborhoods, criminal activities such as illegal gambling, speakeasies and were seen in the post-World War I and Prohibition eras. Although the majority of these businesses in African American neighborhoods were operated by African Americans, it is often unclear the extent to which these operations were run independently of the larger criminal organizations of the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lucas</span> American crime figure

Frank Lucas was an American drug lord who operated in Harlem, New York City, during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was known for cutting out middlemen in the drug trade and buying heroin directly from his source in the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin using the coffins of dead American servicemen, as depicted in the feature film American Gangster (2007), which fictionalized aspects of his life. This claim is denied by his Southeast Asian associate Leslie "Ike" Atkinson.

<i>American Gangster</i> (TV series) American TV series or program

American Gangster is a documentary television series, which airs on BET. The show features some of black America's most infamous and powerful gangsters and is narrated by Ving Rhames. The series premiere, on November 28, 2006, amassed around one million viewers. The first season ended on January 9, 2007, and comprised 6 episodes; a season 1 DVD was released on October 23, 2007. The second season aired October 3, 2007; a season 2 DVD was released on June 10, 2008. In April 2009, A&E Networks purchased the rights to air seasons 1–3 on their networks. They can be seen primarily on the Bio Channel and the flagship A&E Channel. They can also be seen on A&E's Crime and Investigation Network.

Joseph "Tough Joey" Rao, also known as Joey Rao and Joseph Cangro was a New York mobster who was both a rival and an associate of mobster Dutch Schultz. Rao was involved in drug trafficking, policy banking, and running slot machines in Harlem, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Madonna</span> American mobster (born 1935)

Matthew Madonna is a member of the Lucchese crime family who served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017.

<i>Mr. Untouchable</i> 2007 American film

Mr. Untouchable is an English-language documentary film for HDNet Films, directed by Marc Levin, and produced by Mary-Jane Robinson. The film, which opened in limited release on October 26, 2007, like the memoir, Mr. Untouchable: My Crimes and Punishments, addresses the rise and fall of Nicky Barnes, a former drug kingpin in New York City. The film includes first-hand testimony from Barnes himself and was produced by New York-based Blowback Productions.

The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and was dismantled in the 1970s. It was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States at the time. The operation was headed by Corsicans Antoine Guérini and Paul Carbone. It also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco.

The East Harlem Purple Gang was a gang or organized crime group consisting of Italian-American hit-men and heroin dealers who were semi-independent from the Italian-American Mafia and, according to federal prosecutors, dominated heroin distribution in East Harlem, Italian Harlem, and the Bronx during the 1970s and early 1980s in New York City. Though mostly independent of the Italian-American Mafia and not an official Mafia crew, the gang was originally affiliated with and worked with the Lucchese crime family and later with the Bonanno crime family and Genovese crime family. It developed its "closest ties" with the Genovese family, and its remnants or former members are now part of the Genovese family's 116th Street Crew.

Richard M. Roberts is an American attorney. Roberts was a former law enforcement officer who worked as a detective in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and Essex County Bureau of Narcotics. After completing law school at Seton Hall University and passing the bar examination, Roberts served as an Assistant Prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Wallace Rice is a gangster who was part of the 1970s heroin trade in Harlem, New York. Rice was one of the seven members of The Council that included Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, known as "Mr Untouchable", its leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Matthews (drug trafficker)</span> American drug trafficker

Frank Larry Matthews, also known as Black Caesar, Mark IV and Pee Wee, was an American drug trafficker and crime boss who sold heroin and cocaine throughout the eastern United States from 1965 to 1972. He operated in 21 states and supplied drug dealers throughout every region of the country. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ranks Matthews as one of the top ten drug traffickers in U.S. history and he is estimated to have had US$20 million in savings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Harlem</span>

Greater Harlem, in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, has historically had high poverty and crime rates. Crime in Harlem is primarily related to illicit activities such as theft, robbery, drug trafficking and prostitution. Criminal organizations such as street gangs are responsible for a significant portion of crime, particularly violent crime. The leading cause of death among young black males in Harlem is homicide. According to a survey published in 2013 by Union Settlement Association, residents of East Harlem perceive crime as their biggest single concern. Greater Harlem has one of the highest violent crime rates in New York City despite significant declines from historic highs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Diaz</span>

Louis "Lou" Diaz is an American former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who was largely responsible for the arrest and conviction of New York drug kingpin Nicky Barnes. He was also instrumental in dismantling "The Council," Barnes's drug trafficking organization. As an undercover agent, he also brought down members of the Medellin Cartel. Diaz is also an author and actor.

References

  1. "Younger Thugs Surpass Elders: Manhattan's new Purple Gang deals with deceit, drugs, death". Eugene Register-Guard. New York Times News Service. Dec 8, 1977. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 Chepesiuk, Ron (1999). The war on drugs : an international encyclopedia . Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p.  10. ISBN   978-0-87436-985-4.
  3. Abadinsky, Howard (2010). Organized crime (9th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. p.  196. ISBN   978-0-495-59966-1.