170
nine months in a Texas state prison
for drug offences. He was paroled in
September 1994.The sting
In the meantime, in 1992, Oscar
Danilo Blandón, Ross’s Nicaraguan
source, was caught on wiretaps
bragging about his cocaine
dealings, including his trades with
Ross. As a result, Blandón was
arrested in San Diego, California,
where he faced federal charges and
a lengthy prison sentence.
Realizing they could use
Blandón to catch Ross and other
drug barons, the DEA presented
Blandón with a deal. In exchange
for working as an undercover
informant for the DEA, they offeredFREEWAY RICK ROSS
Packed into sports bags, drugs
were transported around Ross’s empire,
moving between those Ross paid to
“cook” powder cocaine into crack,
Ross’s own crew, and local dealers.him a reduced sentence, a green
card on his release from prison, and
even a $42,000 (£33,000) salary.
Blandón served a year of jail time
before he was released and began
his work with the DEA.
His first assignment was to
make one last drug deal with Ross
under the eyes of DEA agents and
San Diego police, who assisted in
the sting operation. As the DEA
listened in, Blandón contacted Ross
to offer him 100 kg (220 lbs) of crack
cocaine. Unaware of the setup,
Ross arranged to meet Blandón in
San Diego on 2 March 1995. The
deal was made in a shopping-
centre carpark in the suburb of
Chula Vista, south of San Diego.
Once the cash and drugs had been
exchanged, officers closed in on
Ross and arrested him.
The following year, Ross was
tried in a federal court in San
Diego, for conspiracy to distribute
illegal drugs bought from a police
informant. On consideration of hisprevious drug convictions, Ross
was sentenced to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.Scandal and conspiracy
Ross believed that Blandón had
been arrested at the same time.
However, just before his trial,
investigative journalist Gary
Webb visited Ross and told him of
Blandón’s betrayal. In 1996, after
several interviews with Ross, Webb
also wrote a series of articles,
named the “Dark Alliance”, in theLife and crime in the ghetto
A crack cocaine epidemic rocked
the US from the mid-1980s to the
early 1990s. At its height, crack
use was a serious problem in most
major US cities: in particular,
South Central Los Angeles.
Crack is approximately twice
as pure as cocaine powder. This
means that the high from smoking
crack is strong and instant. The
high causes feelings of euphoria,
alertness, and invincibility.
During the epidemic, crack
cocaine was incredibly cheap.
According to the DEA, in the early1980s one hit of crack cost about
$2.50 (£2) in many cities, so even
those in poor communities
could afford it.
Crack addiction drove users
to violence and crime as they
looked for money to feed their
habits. Drive-by shootings,
murders, muggings, and
robberies skyrocketed in poor
neighbourhoods. By the late
1980s, the US government
was forced to intervene and
launched a new “war on
drugs” to fight the epidemic.Suspected gang members are
stopped by the LAPD during a
crackdown on drug-related crime
in Los Angeles in June 1988.If there was one outlaw
capitalist most responsible
for flooding Los Angeles
streets with mass-marketed
cocaine, his name was
Freeway Rick.
Jesse Katz168-171_Freeway_Rick_Ross.indd 170 02/12/2016 14:43
171
San Jose Mercury News. His
articles revealed that Blandón
had long been working for the
government as an informant.
Webb’s “Dark Alliance” narrative
unlocked a whole new dimension to
the case – the claim that the drug
empire was connected to the CIA
and the Contra army, who were
fighting against the revolutionary
government in Nicaragua.
According to Webb, the money
Ross paid his Nicaraguan contacts
was being used to fund and arm
the Contras. The CIA, meanwhile,
turned a blind eye as to the source
of the funds.
Although major media outlets
discredited Webb’s findings, the
CIA later acknowledged that it
had worked with suspected drug
runners and used funds from Ross’s
empire to arm the Contras. In a
phone call from jail, Ross himselfORGANIZED CRIME
bemoaned the actions of the CIA.
The government had exploited
him, he claimed – just as he had
exploited his own community.Overturned conviction
Ross was determined not to live out
his life in jail. While serving time in
a federal prison, he taught himself
to read and write, and studied lawbooks in the prison library. He used
these books to fight his sentence,
which was based on the “three
strikes” law that calls for a life term
on conviction of a third felony. Ross
argued that his convictions in
Texas and Ohio related to the same
federal offence and therefore
counted as one crime, making
a total of two convictions.
Although his own lawyer
dismissed the claim, in 1998 the
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal
agreed with his reasoning. As
a result, Ross’s sentence was
reduced to 16½ years from 20. He
was released in 2009 after serving
14 years behind bars. ■A heavily armed DEA agent takes
part in an early morning drug raid on a
suspected kingpin in Los Angeles. The
war on drugs became increasingly
militarized in the 1980s.Good people do bad things
when there are no options.
“Freeway” Rick Ross168-171_Freeway_Rick_Ross.indd 171 02/12/2016 14:43