Citywide drug enterprises are part of GET EVEN, the third book in my historical crime fiction series about the Detroit Mafia to be released on Februray 19th.  Just a few more days to wait!  In today’s post, I’m sharing more information about the drug gangs usurping control of the city from the mafia. For more information about the series, click here.

Historical Facts

Butch Jones, one of the City’s most menacing drug lords, pleaded guilty to heading a criminal drug enterprise in exchange for a twelve-year sentence in prison. Officials estimate the gang was taking-in close to $8 million a week in heroin sales.  Can you believe that?  It was nearly forty years ago and they were making $8 million a week!

Four Aspiring Drug Kingpins

In the late 70s, four aspiring drug kingpins from the West Side brought their gangs together. They complemented each other well—Raymond “Baby Ray” Peoples, Dwayne “Wonderful Wayne” Davis, Mark “Block” Marshall, and Butch Jones. (Notice they followed the trend set by the mafia in giving each other street names.) Peoples and Davis were hustler types and Jones and Marshall were straight out thugs, heartless street guys with “itchy” trigger fingers.

Young Boys, Inc. (YBI) Created

They formed the Young Boys, Inc (YBI), which became the model for all future drug gangs. It was organized like a Fortune 500 corporation with a highly developed infrastructure, divided into diversified sub-units.

Jones Bullied His Way to Top

Jones, a natural bully, quickly muscled his way to the top of the syndicate and ruled with sheer force. His crew was just as cold hearted; ruthless guys were known to beat their enemies with a baseball bat.

YBI Members Were Fashionistas

Here’s an interesting little tidbit for you.  The YBI were known to show up at a nightclub—50 deep, dressed in matching duds—one day trendy threads, then red Adidas track suits, followed by military fatigues, and in the winter, fur-lined Max Julian hooded jackets.

Hell Broke Loose

Everything ran smoothly until Jones and Peoples discovered they were sleeping with the same woman. All hell broke loose and Peoples and Jones started knocking off each other’s lieutenants—it was like sharks circling when they smell blood in the water!

Selection from GET EVEN

Det. Clark Phillips, my key character in this “Detroit Thorn Bird Defy Mafia” series, heads up the special crime task force that now includes representatives from the FBI and the DEA. Here’s a little of their discussion about the serious issue of drug gangs in Detroit.

“They have three hundred people coordinating thousands of kids, ten-, eleven-, and twelve-year-olds, who were making two grand a week.”

“That’s unbelievable,” Veronica interjected. “How did they come up with that kind of know-how?”

Clark gave her an agreeable look. “Remember, these kids grew up in households where all the men worked in the auto plants. People talked about the unions and the SOB’s at the top. These guys are no dummies; they picked up on things they heard and made good use of it. Imagine the type of organization you’d need to pull this off.” Clark laughed outright. “Last year the YBI grossed over $400 million.”

New Yorker Frank Bennett’s face went blank. “I can’t imagine that kind of take… I doubt if any of the Five Families in New York City are raking in those kinds of dollars.”

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Researching and writing a book is fun and very interesting for me.  However, marketing books is a real challenge and one I’m not very good at doing. Any assistance you can provide by sharing my blog and Facebook posts, will give me more time to write.  As a result, I’ll have opportunities to create more stories about the Detroit Thorn Birds and the mafia and you’ll have more to read!  Thanks for forwarding this to friends that like to read crime fiction.