Born in 1899 in Brooklyn, New york Al Capone went from the son of poor immigrant parents to the most notorious gangster in American history. Al Capone came to fame when the Prohibition went into affect in 1919. The Prohibition created a whole new era for the country, one centered on crime and Al Capone was the King. Capone ran a multi-million dollar operation in Chicago that consisted of gambling, bootlegging, and prostitution. He was responsible for multiple violent acts that were focused mainly toward other gangsters. The most famous act Capone is connected to is the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, where he ordered the assassination of seven rivals in 1929. The main reason for Capone’s success was the sheer size of his operation. Because he was so powerful and had operations nation-wide, it was nearly impossible for law enforcement to catch him. During the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Capone was in Florida, making it nearly impossible to directly connect him to the killings. Capone’s operation was one of power, greed, and liquor. He earned $60 million annual selling illegal liquor during his prime. As notorious as Capone was, it was not the acts the made him famous that put him in jail. Of all the illegal acts committed by Capone, he was sentenced six-and-a-half years on income tax evasion. He would later die in 1947 in Miami, however his persona lived on for years after his death.
Al Capone first got into racketeering when he met his mob mentor Johnny Torrio. Torrio ran a gambling and numbers operation near Capone’s house during Capone’s middle school years. Because of the close proximity Capone became interested in the ring and began running errands for Torrio. Even after Capone left for Chicago in 1909, the two remained close friends and after the death of his father Al Capone became partner with Torrio. Unlike Torrio, Capone made a reputation for himself of being reckless and a heavy drinker and this reputation spread rapidly throughout the city.
His reputation continued to grow when he became responsible for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The event occurred when Capone was dominating the bootlegging business. However, after a series of assassination attempts towards Capone by his rival Bugs Moran and a recent attempt on Capone’s top hit man,
“Machine Gun” Jack McGurn, Capone had had enough. He ordered the assassination of Moran, but instead killed seven of Moran’s men in cold blood. Capone was staying in his Florida home at the time, but he was immediately blamed for the act and named “Public Enemy Number One.”
Al Capone first got into racketeering when he met his mob mentor Johnny Torrio. Torrio ran a gambling and numbers operation near Capone’s house during Capone’s middle school years. Because of the close proximity Capone became interested in the ring and began running errands for Torrio. Even after Capone left for Chicago in 1909, the two remained close friends and after the death of his father Al Capone became partner with Torrio. Unlike Torrio, Capone made a reputation for himself of being reckless and a heavy drinker and this reputation spread rapidly throughout the city.
His reputation continued to grow when he became responsible for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The event occurred when Capone was dominating the bootlegging business. However, after a series of assassination attempts towards Capone by his rival Bugs Moran and a recent attempt on Capone’s top hit man,
“Machine Gun” Jack McGurn, Capone had had enough. He ordered the assassination of Moran, but instead killed seven of Moran’s men in cold blood. Capone was staying in his Florida home at the time, but he was immediately blamed for the act and named “Public Enemy Number One.”
Frank Lucas is one of the most famous criminals to ever exist and even low level criminals know his name. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lucas grew up as a country boy and was born on September 9, 1930. Growing up in the rural area of North Carolina during the midst of the Great Depression, he knew the difficulties of growing up poor and black. In fact there was a particular incident that he claimed as the spark for his life of crime. When he was only six years old five members of the Ku Klux Klan showed up at the shack he and his family were living in and killed his thirteen-year-old cousin on the spot. The reason behind the murder, his cousin had looked at a white woman in a flirtatious way.
As Lucas grew he decided to move to Harlem, where he would eventually make the territory his stomping grounds for the duration of the rest of his life. While he was encouraged to find an honest job in the city, but Frank Lucas saw where he could really make money, gambling and drugs. As he committed crime after crime, he grew more bold and ruthless, but even his first crime was of high caliber. The first act of crime Frank Lucas ever committed was an armed robbery at a bar. As his crime escalated, criminals of a higher level began to notice and a long-time Harlem gangster known as Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson who ran gambling and extortion operations in the area. However, when Johnson died in 1968, he left the control of Harlem in the hands of Lucas.
The difference between Lucas and most gangsters of the time was he bypassed the over powering Italian Mafia and went straight to the source of the drug most known in the area, Heroin. However, the initial source of the drug was in Thailand. The trip across the country officially made Lucas and international drug trafficker. On his first trip to Thailand he bought 132 kilos of heroin for $4,200 per unit, nearly $45,000 cheaper than he would have from the Italian Mafia. He then created an “army inside the Army” which consisted of draftees, enlisted men, and even high-ranking officers. People who were bought into the system would bring the packages of drugs home and sometimes the packages were even stuffed into the coffins of dead service men.
Once back on the streets of Harlem, Lucas went back to work and he would not have been successful without dishonest cops in the Harlem area. When drug dealers were caught and taken to the police station, the cops were often bribed with money and the actual drugs themselves. This constant threat also made Lucas extremely hard to capture. A raid on his house resulted in the arrests of ten people, but none of them were Lucas because he had no direct tie to the drugs. However, that all changed when Lucas’s nephew broke down and shared everything about Lucas. After being arrested and charged he was sentenced to 70 years in prison, but gave up all the information he knew about the drug rings in Harlem as well as correspondents around the globe reducing his sentence to 15 years. After another sentence of seven years, Lucas decided it was time to straighten out his life and began to rebuild the community he had destroyed.
As Lucas grew he decided to move to Harlem, where he would eventually make the territory his stomping grounds for the duration of the rest of his life. While he was encouraged to find an honest job in the city, but Frank Lucas saw where he could really make money, gambling and drugs. As he committed crime after crime, he grew more bold and ruthless, but even his first crime was of high caliber. The first act of crime Frank Lucas ever committed was an armed robbery at a bar. As his crime escalated, criminals of a higher level began to notice and a long-time Harlem gangster known as Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson who ran gambling and extortion operations in the area. However, when Johnson died in 1968, he left the control of Harlem in the hands of Lucas.
The difference between Lucas and most gangsters of the time was he bypassed the over powering Italian Mafia and went straight to the source of the drug most known in the area, Heroin. However, the initial source of the drug was in Thailand. The trip across the country officially made Lucas and international drug trafficker. On his first trip to Thailand he bought 132 kilos of heroin for $4,200 per unit, nearly $45,000 cheaper than he would have from the Italian Mafia. He then created an “army inside the Army” which consisted of draftees, enlisted men, and even high-ranking officers. People who were bought into the system would bring the packages of drugs home and sometimes the packages were even stuffed into the coffins of dead service men.
Once back on the streets of Harlem, Lucas went back to work and he would not have been successful without dishonest cops in the Harlem area. When drug dealers were caught and taken to the police station, the cops were often bribed with money and the actual drugs themselves. This constant threat also made Lucas extremely hard to capture. A raid on his house resulted in the arrests of ten people, but none of them were Lucas because he had no direct tie to the drugs. However, that all changed when Lucas’s nephew broke down and shared everything about Lucas. After being arrested and charged he was sentenced to 70 years in prison, but gave up all the information he knew about the drug rings in Harlem as well as correspondents around the globe reducing his sentence to 15 years. After another sentence of seven years, Lucas decided it was time to straighten out his life and began to rebuild the community he had destroyed.
Being the nephew of one of the original drug smugglers in Mexico, made it practically destiny for Guzman to become the most powerful drug lord of the 20th century. He immediately become a part of the family business we he reached the appropriate age and quickly rose up the ranks of the Sinaloa Cartel. In fact Guzman order an assassination of someone who violated a pact between the cartels and it started the Mexican Drug War that is raging throughout the nation. The current drug war has resulted in over 60,000 deaths and 12,000 kidnappings. All the while Guzman has become a millionaire and one of the most powerful men in the world.
The Sinaloa Cartel provides the largest percentage of imported drugs into the United States, consisting of cocaine, marijuana, meth, and heroin. All of the drugs are brought into the United States by elaborate methods through land and air distribution channels.
Guzman was recently arrested, but that is unlikely to stop any of his operation. He was imprisoned from 1993-2001 and continued on with business as usual from inside his cell, using bribery and intimidation. Eventually he escaped from prison, which included the bribing of 78 people and cost him over $2 million. He has since been arrested again and is still in prison today.
The Sinaloa Cartel provides the largest percentage of imported drugs into the United States, consisting of cocaine, marijuana, meth, and heroin. All of the drugs are brought into the United States by elaborate methods through land and air distribution channels.
Guzman was recently arrested, but that is unlikely to stop any of his operation. He was imprisoned from 1993-2001 and continued on with business as usual from inside his cell, using bribery and intimidation. Eventually he escaped from prison, which included the bribing of 78 people and cost him over $2 million. He has since been arrested again and is still in prison today.
Provided by: Allison Goodwin