American Gangster

American Gangster

The strike force banged on the door. “This is the police! Open up! We have a search warrant.” That was the beginning of the end of Frank Lucas, also known as “Superfly”, a name he gave himself.

Frank Lucas was born September 9, 1930 in North Carolina. He moved to Harlem, NY in 1946 at the age of 16. His life of crime started at the age of six. Members of the Ku Klux Klan showed up one night at the house where he lived and killed his 13-year-old cousin. Apparently his cousin was caught looking at a white woman.

Frank Lucas was the oldest boy in his family and had to help support them. He began stealing from food and mugging town locals for money. He eventually had to leave home because he stole from his boss and caught his house on fire.

Lucas continued his life of petty crime after arriving in New York, but soon moved up the ladder when mobster, Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson discovered him and took him under his wings. Bumpy Johnson lived a high-style life of crime and did not hesitate to break the law if was going to profit him. He was a successful drug king for over 40 years and after dying of a heart attack Frank Lucas took over his crime business and started writing his own chapter in the history of American crime lords.

The film, American Gangster, depicts the life of Frank Lucas as he wanted us to see it, but in reality there are many non-truths in the movie. Many believe that Lucas sent a long time friend to Vietnam to make caskets with false bottoms that would be used to smuggle heroin to the US, making him the master mind behind the Asian heroin connection. This took place in the early 1970’s and brought millions of dollars worth of pure heroin to the streets of New York City. He claims to have grossed US $1 million a day selling drugs on 116th Street. Federal judge Sterling Johnson, who was special narcotics prosecutor in New York at the time of Lucas' crimes,