Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary interviews well-known mob historian and author Scott Dietche about his most recent book, Hitmen: The Mafia, Drugs, and the East Harlem Purple Gang. Scott Dietche is a nationally recognized expert on organized crime in the United States. This Tampa-based author has written books like Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey, The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr., Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld, and The Everything Mafia Book. Click anywhere on the highlighted text to find these books. In Hitmen, Scott tells of this minor league New York City Mafia crew known as the Purple Gang. These gangsters aspired to make their Purple Gang into the 6th Family by selling narcotics, committing murder, and extortion.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mafia, gang, east harlem, purple, connection, drug, genovese, family, murders, tied, heroin, mob, early 70s, guns, killings, la cosa nostra, florida, gangs, new york, drug dealers
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Scott Dietche
00:00
The early years of the purple gangs appearance on the drug scene were a tumultuous era for many of the mob like drug syndicates operating in New York City, including the ones operating in East Harlem. But within the gangs own ranks internal strife and petty beefs led to several killings that law enforcement scrambled to solve more often than not, they were added to the list of unsolved gangland homicides. This early violence was one catalyst that led to the myth us of the Purple Gang as something akin to an elite hit squad for hire in the underworld. There were a lot of blood spatter drug related homicides, everybody suspected them the Purple Gang of doing a bunch of them, but we couldn’t prove it. The drug game was a violent one and the gang was certainly amenable to dispatching business rivals with little to no provocation. A 1976 DEA report stated much like the original Purple Gang that terrorize Detroit during the Prohibition era, the members of the current Purple Gang appear to have an enormous capacity for violence, involvement in numerous homicides and a lack of respect for other members of organized crime. Well, welcome
00:59
Welcome all you wiretappers out there, that little snippet you heard was a little bit from Scott oout his new book about the Purple Gang of East Harlem, New York. I’ll have links to get it but welcomes Scott, it’s really good to have you.
01:14
Yeah, great to be back. Good to see you again.
01:16
Alright, Scott’s been on here before he did a show and we did a show about the New Jersey mobs. And what was that gangland Garden State gangland Garden State gang land so I’ll have a link to find that down below guys. Really good books. And Scott does his research. I’ll tell you right now he does his research. Scott also does famous for the Ybor City or Tampa area mob tour, which I took and if you look on my YouTube channel, you can download a 10 minute segment of what you would see so if you’re, you’re down in Tampa in the winter, particularly I don’t think you do it in the summer days got
01:53
no we don’t walk around. It’s not conducive to walking outside during the day.
01:57
Subscribe to the Podcast for a new gangster story every week.
Support the Podcast.
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwireClick here to “buy me a cup of coffee”
To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Donate to the podcast. Click here!
Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
mafia, gang, east harlem, purple, connection, drug, genovese, family, murders, tied, heroin, mob, early 70s, guns, killings, la cosa nostra, florida, gangs, new york, drug dealers
SPEAKERS
GARY JENKINS, Scott Dietche
00:00
The early years of the purple gangs appearance on the drug scene were a tumultuous era for many of the mob like drug syndicates operating in New York City, including the ones operating in East Harlem. But within the gangs own ranks internal strife and petty beefs led to several killings that law enforcement scrambled to solve more often than not, they were added to the list of unsolved gangland homicides. This early violence was one catalyst that led to the myth us of the Purple Gang as something akin to an elite hit squad for hire in the underworld. There were a lot of blood spatter drug related homicides, everybody suspected them the Purple Gang of doing a bunch of them, but we couldn’t prove it. The drug game was a violent one and the gang was certainly amenable to dispatching business rivals with little to no provocation. A 1976 DEA report stated much like the original Purple Gang that terrorize Detroit during the Prohibition era, the members of the current Purple Gang appear to have an enormous capacity for violence, involvement in numerous homicides and a lack of respect for other members of organized crime. Well, welcome
00:59
Welcome all you wiretappers out there, that little snippet you heard was a little bit from Scott oout his new book about the Purple Gang of East Harlem, New York. I’ll have links to get it but welcomes Scott, it’s really good to have you.
01:14
Yeah, great to be back. Good to see you again.
01:16
Alright, Scott’s been on here before he did a show and we did a show about the New Jersey mobs. And what was that gangland Garden State gangland Garden State gang land so I’ll have a link to find that down below guys. Really good books. And Scott does his research. I’ll tell you right now he does his research. Scott also does famous for the Ybor City or Tampa area mob tour, which I took and if you look on my YouTube channel, you can download a 10 minute segment of what you would see so if you’re, you’re down in Tampa in the winter, particularly I don’t think you do it in the summer days got
01:53
no we don’t walk around. It’s not conducive to walking outside during the day.
01:57
Activity