168
A
t the peak of his criminal
career, “Freeway” Rick
Ross – not to be confused
with the rapper Rick Ross – earned
up to $3 million (£2 million) per day.
He sold crack cocaine in a trading
empire that spread from South
Central Los Angeles to more than
40 cities across the US, and evaded
prison for nearly a decade.
Ross grew up in a Los Angeles
ghetto at the end of a street that
dead-ended against the Harbor
Freeway – hence his nickname.
Ross was a high-school tennis star,
and some have suggested that he
started his life of crime after he
failed to get a tennis scholarship to
college because he was illiterate.IN CONTEXT
LOCATION
Los Angeles, California, USTHEME
Drug traffickingBEFORE
1923 Miyagawa Yashukichi, a
Japanese drug trafficker living
in the UK, runs one of the
largest drug rings of the 1920s.
He sends huge amounts of
heroin to Japan via London.1960s–70s Frank Lucas, a
heroin dealer in Harlem, cuts
out the middle man by buying
heroin directly from the Golden
Triangle in Asia.AFTER
2003 Thomas “Tacker”
Comerford establishes an
international drug trafficking
network in England. He is
caught and arrested, but dies
of liver cancer before he can be
brought to trial.IT WAS ALWAYS
ABOUT BUSINESS,
NEVER ABOUT
GANGS
“FREEWAY” RICK ROSS, 1980–95
168-171_Freeway_Rick_Ross.indd 168 02/12/2016 14:43
169
See also: Hells Angels 160–63 ■ The Krays and the Richardsons 164–65 ■ The Medellín Cartel 166–67At the age of 17, Ross dropped out
of high school. Unable to read well
enough to fill out job applications,
he could not find work. Instead,
he hit the streets, stealing and
dismantling cars and then selling
on the parts with a group of friends
who dubbed themselves the
“Junkyard Freeway Boys”.Crack empire
Within a year of leaving school,
Ross had tapped into the crack
cocaine boom. Previously, cocaine
had been considered an elitist
drug used by the rich. Now, in
its inexpensive “crack” form, it
became the inner city drug of
choice. Crack differs from cocaine
because it is made by mixing the
drug with water and baking soda,
drying it, then cracking it into rocks
to be smoked.
The use of crack cocaine soared
as Ross sold a seemingly endless
supply at bargain prices. His
primary sources were Oscar DaniloBlandón and Norwin Meneses,
who smuggled cocaine into the
US from their native Nicaragua.
Ross saturated the inner city
with the drug. Devastatingly
addictive, crack cocaine wreaked
havoc on poor urban communities,
turning whole families into
crackheads. Ross was initially
unaware of the drug’s serious side
effects, which include respiratory
problems, cardiac arrest, and
psychosis. Instead, he approached
the trade like an entrepreneur
building a business. Because Ross
purchased and produced large
amounts of crack so cheaply, he
was able to sell it for a low price
while still making a huge profit.
Sales went through the roof.
Ross used a network of runners
and dealers to distribute the crack
cocaine, and even employed people
who did nothing but count the
money he earned. According to the
US Department of Justice, Ross
became one of the biggest dealers
in South Central Los Angeles.
Narcotics detectives with the
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department investigated his
operation for eight years but Ross
avoided capture by continually
changing locations and cars.
However, as he amassed more
money, houses, vehicles, and a
large crew, he came to the attention
of federal investigators.
Law enforcement agencies
formed a special task force to target
Ross and other major drug dealers.
It comprised officers and agentsORGANIZED CRIME
At the age of 28, Rick Ross learned
to read and write in prison. In 2014,
Ross toured the US to promote his
autobiography and to preach the
importance of literacy.with the US Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA), Los Angeles Police
Department (LAPD), and the
Sheriff’s Department. As its focus
centred on catching the elusive
Ross, the group became known as
the Freeway Rick Ross Task Force.Expansion and detention
Between 1986 and 1990, Ross and
his crew expanded into other cities,
including St Louis, Missouri, and
Cincinnati, Ohio. Authorities in
these cities were also drawn in to
investigating his activities, with
little success. In October 1986, Ross
was arrested on federal charges for
conspiracy to distribute cocaine in
St Louis, but the case was
dismissed for lack of evidence.
However, Ross was indicted
again on cocaine trafficking
charges in Ohio and Texas, after
drugs bound for Cincinnati were
picked out by a sniffer dog at a bus
station and traced to Ross. This
time, the charges stuck and in 1990
he was sentenced. On completion
of his federal sentence in Ohio,
Ross immediately began serving ❯❯[Ricky Ross] was a
disillusioned 19-year-old...
who, at the dawn of the 1980s,
found himself adrift on the
streets of South-Central
Los Angeles.
Gary Webb168-171_Freeway_Rick_Ross.indd 169 13/01/2017 15:18