So I been curious, watching "Godfathers of Harlem". How powerful, truly, were Bumpy Johnson and Frank Lucas compared to the Five Families at the time. I always hear mixed reports that they were equal if not wealthier then some of the individual families, which i wouldn't be surprised because of the drug trade, but I also here other reports that they still had to "yield" to the families at times. Which is more accurate, or phrasing that better, what is the most accurate picture of this.

Godfather of Harlem is way too fictional. Gigante going to Harlem, the families all meeting with Johnson, just about all the show is fake history. Johnson operated on his own, totally independent of any Mafia oversight.

Frank Lucas is another guy who's real story isn't even close to what he wants you to believe. The movie was 75 percent BS maybe more.

Was Lucas the one who claimed he was close to Bumpy Johnson, which was denied by Johnson's widow?

The Mob had to deal with the African-Americans to push all that heroin!

Yes that’s the one

They were middlemen but in their community they were huge!

I don't think it worked that way, The African-Americans had their own connections. They did use Italians at times, but they had multiple sources. There were mob guys selling to them on occasion, but also White guys who were not part of the mafia. Plus they were right next to Spanish-Harlem, which was there biggest source. That leaves out their own people, who bring drugs in from the south. Mexico, then over the border, then Harlem.
That last one shows how some things never change.

True but heroin was mostly used in the poor parts of town and this were mostly black communities.

Heroin was used in every community by all races and classes. Less by the rich, or at least I assume so. More attention was given to Black communities, and heroin was blamed for all the problems in those communities. In White areas with drug problems equally as bad, less resources were allocated and less media and others gave them attention.

In 1975 officials identified the five black leaders as Leroy Barnes, James Lofton, Frank Lucas, Steven Monsanto and Robert Stepeney. They reportedly have come to power in the last two years as blacks have gradually gained a larger share of the narcotics business here from Mafia?controlled rings.


Leroy Barnes

According to police intelligence reports, Mr. Barnes is not only one of the biggest black heroin dealers in the city, but he also is involved on the national level.

In the last two years he has set up an organization that handles all aspects of the heroin business from the time the drug is smuggled into the country until it is sold on the streets.

The 43?year?old Mr. Barnes, a flashy dresser who sometimes wears gold?colored suits, lives in a $700?a?month apartment at 3333 Henry Hudson Parkway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Mr. Barnes has been arrested several times, but has never been convicted of a major crime. He is scheduled to go on trial next month for murder in the Bronx, charged with having been involved in the fatal knifing of a drug dealer in March 1974.

Last April, he was acquitted of charges in the Bronx that he offered a bribe of $131,000 to two police office who stopped his Mercedes?Benz sedan and found a gun in it.

James Lofton

The 29?year?old Mr. Lofton lives in New Rochelle, but the police describe him as a “major supplier of heroin” in the Bronx and Harlem. He, too, has an organization that imports, packages and distributes heroin, according to police intelligence files.

Mr. Lofton has described himself as being in the real?estate business. Police records indicate that he is the owner of a dry cleaning store on Manhattan Avenue. Police records show that he has been arrested at least three times and he has served one prison sentence of less than a year. He has never been arrested on a narcotics trafficking charge.

One of Mr. Lofton's hobbies is sailing. He has a 42?foot boat moored at the New Rochelle Yacht Club.

Frannk Lnucas

Mr. Lucas, 42, is on trial in Manhattan Federal Court on the rarely brought charge of supervising “a criminal enterprise.” He had previously been arrested six times, but was never convicted of a major narcotics charge.

Mr. Lucas, who grew up in North Carolina, heads a ring known as “The Country Boys,” supposedly because most of them come from the South. His activities are confined mainly to Harlem, the police said.

The police suspect that Mr. Lucas has been one of the, most successful black entrepreneurs in establishing direct connections with Asian heroin exporters.

Police officials discussing Mr. Lucas's affluence said that when his home at 923 Sheffield Road, Teaneck, was raided in 1972 by Federal agents, his wife tossed a suitcase from a bedroom window to the ground. The suitcase contained $584,000—mostly in small bills.

Steven Monsanto

Mr. Monsanto, 23, is one of the youngest dealers in the heroin hierarchy, according to investigators.

Intelligence files show that he worked for Mr. Barnes before organizing his own operation. Mr. Monsanto has an apartment on West 129th Street and his dealings are exclusively in Harlem.

Although arrested at least four times on narcotics charges, he has never been convicted of a felony.

In August 1974, Mr. Monsanto was kidnapped, He was released the next day after his relatives raised a ransom. According to the police, the price for his freedom was $130,000.

Robert Stepeney

Mr. Stepeney reputedly is one of the city's major distribu tors of heroin and cocaine, and a powerful figure in black organized crime.

In addition to being an importer, narcotics intelligence reports assert that the 50?yearold Mr. Stepeney has been the “money man,” or financier, for smaller dealers bringing drugs into New York.

Mr. Stepeney, who grew up in the Bronx, lives at 75 Chadwick Road in Teaneck. He has never been convicted of a drug felony, but has served a Federal prison term relating to a tax charge.

The four Hispanic dealers, Ramon Matos, Gustavo Restrepo. Hugo Curbello and Lilia Parada, are reputed to be among the largest cocaine dealers in the city. It is unclear if they are involved in heroin trafficking.

Gustavo Restrepo

Police intelligence sources describe Mr. Restrepo along with Mr. Matos as the two biggest Hispanic cocaine dealers in the city.

Mr. Restrepo, a Colombian, allegedly has strong ties there with major cocaine smuggling figures. His organization is a principal supplier for cocaine in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan and in Jackson Heights and Astoria, Queens.

Mr. Restrepo was arrested once on a narcotics charge, but he was not convicted.

Ramon Matos

Mr. Matos is characterized as a “multi?kilo operator” in, cocaine, with direct links to smugglers in Colombia. The 32year?old Mr. Matos was born, in the Dominican Republic.

According to police dossiers, he is not involved in the “cut?, ting” or packaging of cocaine once it reaches New York. Instead, Mr. Matos allegedly is a high?level importer who sells to medium?level dealers, mainly on the West Side and in Harlem.

Arrested three times on drug violations charges, Mr. Matos, has never been convicted.

Lilia Parada

The only woman in the list of major drug dealers is 30year?old Miss Parada. Her birthplace is uncertain, but she is believed to have lived in Cuba before coming to the United States.

Intelligence officers said she used two apartments on the West Side, on 107th Street and 109th Street.

Miss Parada is involved only in cocaine and is described as a “major importer and supplier.” She has never been convicted of a narcotics felony.

Hugo Curbello

Little is known about Mr. Curbello's background except that he was born in Cuba.

Police records characterize him as a chief supplier of cocaine in many Hispanic neighborhoods. He is believed to have begun large?scale operations in this area about two years ago, but his history before that is vague.

The latest intelligence reports said that Mr. Curbello maintained two apartments, on West 173d Street in Washington Heights and on Seward Avenue in the Unionport section of the Bronx.

The police also were uncertain of whether Mr. Curbello had an arrest record in this area.

Although Federal and city law enforcement officials have identified many of the major violators, they are still far from crippling their operations. Infiltration of the top levels of narcotics organizations always has been difficult and time?consuming.

“We are trying to emphasize conspiracy cases to get more mileage out of each investigation,” the commander of the police narcotics division, Deputy Chief Joseph A. Preiss, said. “What we are hoping for is a small buy leading to someone bigger and eventually to the top of the ladder. But those cases are hard to make.”

Hollender, is that last report on the Hispanic dealers also from 1975?

This one stood out a bit;



No convictions, yet they call her a major supplier. It seems unfair of them in my opinion, although I know most others will disagree.

Yes from a 1975 NY Times article by Selwyn Raab.

Officials emphasized that no single group controlled New York's billion dollar narcotics trade.
The police have maintained a list of 100 leading dealers since 1971 as a means of establishing priorities in narcotics investigations.

https://www.nytimes.com/1975/12/09/...lice-one-woman-is-among-group-of-13.html