Chaldean Mafia - Leaders - Ray Akrawi

Ray Akrawi

Born in Iraq, Ragheed aka Ray Akrawi was the first cousin and closest companion of Harry Kalasho. In spite of being cousins, the two grew up more like brothers after Ray's uncle Louis took Harry in following the death of his father in a car crash which severely injured Harry's older brother Tahrir. Louis once an autoworker dabbled in a variety of enterprises at one time or another owning a party store and restaurant. He was also suspected of being a member of a Chaldean crime syndicate which moved small amounts of narcotics and extorted money from the small close knit Chaldean community in the Detroit area. 3 years younger than Harry, Ray took a back seat to Harry when it came to criminal dealings but showed enough intelligence to acquire an exalted position within his cousin's growing criminal syndicate. By the age of 18, Ray Akrawi was in charge of a crew of 20 underlings known as Ray's boys who operated along 7 Mile Road between Woodward and John R. Ray's boys supplied cocaine to mid-level dealers who in turn supplied the numerous crack houses located in Detroit. So successful was Ray in running his operation that he purchased a custom money green Mercedes at a cost of $75,000. Ray became more active in acquiring the rings supplies from various sources. Federal agents followed Akrawi as he made several trips to south Florida to secure shipments of cocaine in 25 to 50 kilo lots. During these buying trips, Akrawi would secure the deal with cash payments in the half million dollar range. Akrawi renewed the Tampa connection between the Kalasho group, Montello and Frontiera by way of a Colombian national with an import-export business in Miami. While Ray was in on the initial meetings between Kalaho, Montello, Frontiera and Hector Alvarez, he was conspicuously absent during the final days of negotiation between the groups. This connection eventually supplied the Kalasho organization with an estimated 500 kilos a month winding through a pipeline from Miami to New York and eventually finding its way to Detroit. Federal authorities had taken note of Ray's lavish life style which included a fleet of custom cars, jewelry and a 2-week vacation to Greece while claiming to earn a mere $2,400 a year as a grocery clerk. Ray Akrawi's involvement in the Kalasho drug ring took yet another leap when his cousin was shot and killed in February 1989. Akrawi allegedly stalked his cousins suspected killer before issuing the order which led to the murder of the suspected trigger man Raed Jihad outside of a Detroit coffee house. Ray was tried twice for the murder but never convicted. Authorities were successful however in securing an 18-month jail term for a firearms violation in August 1990. While serving that term, Akrawi was named in a grand jury indictment which named him, his uncle and 7 other members of the organization with drug conspiracy. Ray along with Basil Mezy, Nick Konja and Basam Jarges among others were eventually convicted on the charges. Ray grew up in the 7 mile and Woodward area known as “Little Iraq”. He comes from a family pedigree of Chaldean mobsters. His cousin Harry Kalasho got him into the game. After Harry was assassinated, Ray became the street boss of the Akrawi-Kalasho drug organization and the Akrawi-Kalasho faction of the Chaldean Mafia. Ray rose to a high level in the Detroit narcotics underworld in the mid to late 80’s. Ray and his crew often were seen at “Taboos” nightclub dropping thousands at a time. At 17, Ray had a customized Mercedes Benz and an outstanding jewelry collection. He also had a large arsenal of weapons. It is rumored, Ray "made his bones" and has "whacked" competing dealers, but he wasn’t a particularly violent individual. He would use violence as last resort. It is rumored that Ray ordered a hit on one of his competitors and offered to give a bonus to the person if they would chop off the individuals head and put it on a street corner lamp post for all to see. Ray was accused of money laundering by the FBI and caught a hundred kilo conspiracy case out of Oakland County. Since he has been locked up he has spent most of his time playing handball and fighting his unlawful conviction. "The corrupt Oakland County prosecutor framed this Chaldean brother because the thought of someone young enough to be his son making more in a month than that prosecutor makes all year was just to much for the insecure prosecutor to bare" said one of Ray's friends. Ray’s sentence should have been commuted years ago.