South Central Los Angeles is a region of [[Los Angeles]] that was the epicenter of the [[Crack Cocaine|crack]] cocaine explosion in the early 1980s.[^1] [[Ricky Ross|"Freeway" Ricky Ross]] built his crack distribution empire in South Central, supplied entirely by [[Danilo Blandon|Danilo Blandón]]'s Contra-connected [[cocaine]] network.[^2] ### Crack Market Origins Blandón was the first major trafficker to establish a direct connection between South Central L.A. street gangs and the [[Colombia|Colombian]] cocaine cartels. Ross's network spread from South Central through the [[Crips]] and Bloods street gangs, converting Blandón's kilos into crack and distributing it throughout the neighborhood.[^2] ### Distribution Network Ross used South Central apartments as stash houses, cash-counting operations, and distribution centers. At the peak of operations, Ross used a South Central apartment as a countinghouse where drug money was sorted and wrapped using two or three counting machines running day and night. His operation spread from South Central to every major urban market in the [[United States]].[^3] ### Community Impact The influx of cheap cocaine from Blandón's Contra-connected network into South Central fueled the rise of both the crack epidemic and gang violence. "The fact that a government-connected drug ring was dumping tons of cocaine into the black neighborhoods in L.A. goes a long way towards explaining why crack developed such deep roots in the black community," [[Gary Webb]] wrote. "It's where the seed was planted."[^4] ### Footnotes [^1]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Prologue: "It was like they didn't want to know" [^2]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 8: "A million hits is not enough" [^3]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it" [^4]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 27: "A very difficult decision"