Police concluded a four-year investigation into Mac Dre’s Thizz Entertainment record label, after 25 people were arrested and accused of being involved in a massive, nationwide ecstasy ring.
A number of rappers associated with Thizz Entertainment were arrested yesterday (April 24) and charged in a conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and codeine cough syrup around the country.
According to police, members of Thizz sold drugs to finance the record label.
“This is another example of partnership that exists between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Vallejo Police Department to improve the safety of our community and reduce the level of violence associated with drug dealing,” Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini told AllHipHop.com in a statement released yesterday (April 24) evening.
“We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California in coordinating the investigation and prosecuting the persons involved in such a complex and dangerous criminal enterprise,” Chief Nichelini said.
According to the DEA, over 45,000 ecstasy pills were seized in yesterday’s raid, along with 4 pounds of crack, a half pound of heroin and $200,000 in suspected drug money.
Police said that Thizz also operated two defunct marijuana dispensaries and seized over 230 acres in property valued at $1 million, that was used to cultivate marijuana in Yuba County.
Mac Dre, who started Thizz Entertainment, was shot and killed in 2004, in Kansas City, Missouri, allegedly by a rival rapper named Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins.
Fat Tone and an associate were later gunned down in a construction lot near The Palms in Las Vegas.
In 2008, Bay Area rapper Mac Minister, born Andre Dow, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering Fat Tone, his associate and a women who witnessed the killings.
Police hope that the bust is the final chapter in Mac Dre and Thizz Entertainment’s history in Vallejo.
According to police, Mac Dre was a member of the infamous Romper Room gang, that operated in the Bay Area in the late 80s and 1990s.
The gang committed a series of robberies of Pizza Parlors in the area, that were eventually the subject of an episode of BET’s “American Gangster” series.
Police say nine members of Thizz Entertainment are still on the run, while those arrested will make their first court appearances on May 4.
Below is a list of people the DEA charged in the nationwide drug dealing ring:
Michael Lott, performs under the name “Miami the Most”
*Major Norton, performs under the name “Dubee”
*Lawrence Kennedy Nelson
Gaylord Franklin, performs under the name “Geezy”
Clifford Bullock
*Narco McFarland Sr.,
Latroy Cunningham
*Eric Robinson
Dante Barbarin
*Eileen Knight
Beshiba Cook
Bruce Thurmon, performs under the name “Little Bruce”
Damian Peterson
Mikel Brown
**Nicholas Ramirez
*Ung Duong
*Phat Nguyen
*Marcus Davis
**Tiffany Brown
Andre Cawthorne
*Michael Smiley
*Anthony Young
*Anthony Payton
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