The East Harlem Purple Gang was a semi-independent group of Italian American hit-men and heroin dealers who according to Federal prosecutors dominated heroin distribution in East Harlem and the Bronx during the late 1970s in New York City. The gang was originally affiliated with the Lucchese crime family and later with the Bonanno crime family and Genovese crime family, and its remnants are now part of the 116th Street Crew. They allegedly named their group the 'Purple Gang' as a tribute to a Prohibition Era gang (Purple Gang) that terrorized Detroit 50 years earlier. Membership in the group was restricted to Italian Americans who grew up on Pleasant Avenue between 114th and 120th streets, just east of 1st avenue.
In 1977, at the peak of its strength, The Purple Gang had 30 members according to police reports and 80 associates. After the arrest of Leroy Barnes, the top heroin dealer in Harlem, the Purple Gang began supplying heroin to his network of African-American dealers in Harlem at $75,000 per kilogram. In 1977, law enforcement claimed that the Purple Gang committed at least 17 homicides, some on behalf of 'organized crime principals'.
Law enforcement speculated that during the late 1970s, the Purple Gang developed a relationship with Nicaraguan drug dealers, trading firearms for drugs.
The Purple Gang disintegrated during the late 1970s and was absorbed into the current 116th Street Crew. Some members were invited to join the Mafia and became made men, including Angelo Prisco and Daniel Leo who became the acting boss of the Genovese crime family in 2005.
Read more about East Harlem Purple Gang: Pleasant Avenue, In Popular Culture
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