Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. Gary tells stories about the Black Mafia in Kansas City, from their early days when they dominated the Heroin market to the murder of a prominent Black politician, Leon Jordon, to the epic war between Sam Haley and Aaron Gant. Finally, he ends with a disturbing story about a drug house robbery. The primary connection between the La Cosa Nostra Mafia and the Black Mafia appeared to be between a fence named Jimmy Ciarelli and a black liquor store owner called Baby Face Norris and one of the suspects in the Leon Jordan murder named Jimmy Willis.
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Transcript
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Hey, all you Wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio Gangland Wire. I’ve got a story of the Black Mafia in Kansas City. Now, I’ve often been asked what connections did the Italian Mafia have with professional black criminals or African American criminals. And there was some. And it all revolves around drugs and politics. So let’s go back to some of the early days in the late 60s and early 70s. What we had in Kansas City there, the heroin racket, back in the day, blacks had heroin, and the Italians got the heroin and sold it to the blacks go all the way back to the French Connection days and Carmine Galante in New York. Now, by the late 60s, early 70s. Our local African American guys got a connection in Los Angeles to get heroin now it was seemed like it was peckerwoods out there. It wasn’t Italians. Anyhow, they got that but they were kicking up a little bit to the Italians, and they needed to coexist with the Italians at the time. And so it’s kind of started this ongoing relationship that neither party really ever acknowledged to anybody. But it started coming out in little bits and pieces. Because I guess we really go back to the old 18th and Vine, the Kansas City song Wilbert Harrison, Kansas City song about being a 12th. And bind goes way back. But 18th and Vine, by the late 50s and 60s, was the place and it’s all black clubs and jazz clubs and everything were there and there was a corner liquor store owned by a guy named Joe Centimano, Cokie Joe or Crazy Joe, they called him
01:45
and he was a connection with the blacks because he was in the black community. Now he was connected primarily because of politics. It was late 60s, there formed a black political organization named freedom Incorporated. And there were other black, political, smaller black political organizations. And Joe was the mom’s contact with those people. There’s a guy down the street that had a liquor store called a blueprint liquor store, a guy named maybe face north and they called him babyface north and he continued to be that for years and years really until he died up until I don’t know the 80s there was a mob guy named Jimmy Cirelli that would show up talking to one of our Capos Willie the rat Cammisano. He was a professional thief and offense and he would be down at Baby Faces Blue Front liquors every day. Now, back in the day, when I first came on the police department, baby face was always good for couple of six packs. If you’re getting off of work and you want some beer of our if we had the ce...
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Remember to click on www.BetterHelp.com/gangland for 10% off
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
GARY JENKINS 00:00
Hey, all you Wiretappers out there. Good to be back here in the studio Gangland Wire. I’ve got a story of the Black Mafia in Kansas City. Now, I’ve often been asked what connections did the Italian Mafia have with professional black criminals or African American criminals. And there was some. And it all revolves around drugs and politics. So let’s go back to some of the early days in the late 60s and early 70s. What we had in Kansas City there, the heroin racket, back in the day, blacks had heroin, and the Italians got the heroin and sold it to the blacks go all the way back to the French Connection days and Carmine Galante in New York. Now, by the late 60s, early 70s. Our local African American guys got a connection in Los Angeles to get heroin now it was seemed like it was peckerwoods out there. It wasn’t Italians. Anyhow, they got that but they were kicking up a little bit to the Italians, and they needed to coexist with the Italians at the time. And so it’s kind of started this ongoing relationship that neither party really ever acknowledged to anybody. But it started coming out in little bits and pieces. Because I guess we really go back to the old 18th and Vine, the Kansas City song Wilbert Harrison, Kansas City song about being a 12th. And bind goes way back. But 18th and Vine, by the late 50s and 60s, was the place and it’s all black clubs and jazz clubs and everything were there and there was a corner liquor store owned by a guy named Joe Centimano, Cokie Joe or Crazy Joe, they called him
01:45
and he was a connection with the blacks because he was in the black community. Now he was connected primarily because of politics. It was late 60s, there formed a black political organization named freedom Incorporated. And there were other black, political, smaller black political organizations. And Joe was the mom’s contact with those people. There’s a guy down the street that had a liquor store called a blueprint liquor store, a guy named maybe face north and they called him babyface north and he continued to be that for years and years really until he died up until I don’t know the 80s there was a mob guy named Jimmy Cirelli that would show up talking to one of our Capos Willie the rat Cammisano. He was a professional thief and offense and he would be down at Baby Faces Blue Front liquors every day. Now, back in the day, when I first came on the police department, baby face was always good for couple of six packs. If you’re getting off of work and you want some beer of our if we had the ce...
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