Urban Legends Mag

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Showing posts from January, 2022

Alpo Martinez murder in NYC leaves son fearing for his safety

By BRITTANY KRIEGSTEIN , GRAHAM RAYMAN and LEONARD GREENE The grisly weekend rubout of a Harlem crime kingpin-turned-informant continued to reverberate Monday, with the victim’s grieving son searching for answers and fearing for his own safety. No arrests have been made in the bloody shooting of Alberto “Alpo” Martinez, a notorious New York City drug lord, who went from ruling an East Coast empire to cooperating with federal authorities to save his own skin. Martinez, 55, went into protective custody following his release from federal prison on murder charges thanks to serving as a government witness. But if federal authorities couldn’t keep Martinez from a killer’s clutches, his son, Randy Harvey, wonders what chance he has of staying safe. “It was like a student and a teacher, you know?” Harvey told the Daily News of his relationship with his father. “The stuff that he wanted to teach me when I was little, but he wasn’t there. He told me how to be safe. It’s making me wonder, am

The legacy of notorious drug dealer Alpo Martinez

By JUSTIN TINSLEY In the 2002 cult classic Paid in Full , rapper Cam’ron — who played the drug dealer Rico — delivered the movie’s most legendary line , proclaiming, “N—as get shot every day, B.” The character was inspired by the notorious Harlem drug kingpin Alberto “Alpo” Martinez. Just hours after midnight on Halloween, it was Alpo who found himself on the wrong side of a bullet. According to local news reports , Martinez, 55, was struck five times while driving a 2017 Dodge Ram near West 147th Street. Medics were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead a short time later at Harlem Hospital. No suspects have been arrested, but it won’t surprise anyone to learn that Martinez’s death was a byproduct of the life he lived and especially his decision to make a deal with prosecutors nearly 30 years earlier. In the history of drugs in America, Martinez is one of its most notorious cautionary tales. His legacy lives in the world of hip-hop, the genre that was still in its re

Gang of 21 who smuggled £165 million of cocaine into the UK from Dubai are jailed for a total of 167 years after being caught through Encrochat

Daily Mail A gang who masterminded the import of over £165 million worth of cocaine into the country have been jailed for a total of 167 years. The 21-strong group was a complex network of well-rehearsed individuals shifting illegal drugs on an 'industrial scale'. Leading members of the gang would travel out to Dubai to meet their cocaine contact who they bragged was on a 'mill a week.' But the smooth-running operation fell apart when European Police broke into the Encrochat phone system - an encoded system used by criminals - giving British police evidence to arrest the gang. An investigation by the East Midlands Special Operations Unit found the gang was being led by Paldip Mahngar, 45, out of his small terraced house in Derby. Mahngar was using an encrypted phone with the Encrochat system to order numerous kilograms of cocaine from contacts in Dubai - Jaswant Kajla was then responsible for distributing the drugs across the country. Kajla, 41, of Coventry, organis

Meet The Man Who Gave Rich Porter 30 Bricks Of Cocaine, Richard “Fritz” Simmons

By Darryl Robertson The writer of the Holy Qur’an and the Holy Bible said: “Let there be light in Harlem.” So, there was light in Harlem. In fact, there was enough brightness in Black Manhattan to start a Renaissance and enough energy to reverberate its artsy ambience throughout the universe. Fourscore and twenty years later, a flood of soot and decay eclipsed everything delicate north of 110th street. From this dirt, God formed some of the world’s most complex and unique hustlers. Although their lives proved tragic, their everlasting stories served Hollywood’s agenda. Men like Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas, and Azie Faison found their timeless lives romanticized on the big-screen thanks to films like Hoodlum , The Godfather of Harlem , American Gangster , and Paid in Full, respectively. Faison, played by Wood Harris in Paid in Full , wrote the film’s original screenplay. Roc-A-Fella Films, which oversaw the project, contracted screenwriter Thulani Davis and director Chuck St

ALPO MARTINEZ: He Was in Witness Protection in Maine. But His Harlem Life Kept Calling.

NEW YORK TIMES It was 2016, and Abraham Rodriguez received a text message that made him light up. It was from his friend Nik Pappaconstantine, who had just picked up a new toy: a sleek, speedy dirt bike — perfect for back road riding in Lewiston, the small city in Maine where they lived. Mr. Rodriguez had just turned 50, and had arrived in Lewiston a year or so before with nothing. He met Mr. Pappaconstantine, who worked at a local bank, when he came in to set up his first-ever bank account, and the two men grew close. They bonded over a shared love of cars and adventure sports, and when Mr. Rodriguez saw the text he bolted over to try out the new bike. They carted the motorcycle to the woods, and Mr. Rodriguez hopped on. He revved the engine, popped a wheelie and rode it for a quarter mile. Then he turned, popped another, and rode it back, slipping through the empty, wooded field like a professional street rider. Mr. Pappaconstantine was stunned. But Mr. Rodriguez laughed it off: