South Central Los Angeles

South Central Los Angeles is a region of Los Angeles that was the epicenter of the crack cocaine explosion in the early 1980s.¹ "Freeway" Ricky Ross built his crack distribution empire in South Central, supplied entirely by 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 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