VIDEO: American Gangster extended trailer; Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe star

August 29, 2007 | Filed Under Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Video

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Today we bring to you the most excellent extended trailer for American Gangster, a biopic about notorious 116th St. heroin dealer Frank Lucas. Give it a watch, it looks awesome.

Lucas, played by Denzel Washington, was one of the most successful street druglords of all time. Check out his wiki:

Frank Lucas was a heroin dealer in Harlem in the early 1970s. He claims to have grossed $1 million a day selling drugs on 116th Street. Federal judge Sterling Johnson, who was special narcotics prosecutor in New York at the time of Lucas’s crimes, called Lucas’s operation “one of the most outrageous international dope-smuggling gangs ever . . . an innovator who got his own connection outside the U.S. and then sold the stuff himself in the street.”

He is particularly remembered for the “Cadaver Connection,” in which the coffins of dead American servicemen being returned from Vietnam would also include a dozen or so kilos of 98% pure heroin.

According to the article “The Return of Superfly”, Frank Lucas assaulted his attorney Gino Gallina, a mouthpiece for the Italian mob. However, the article was written based on information gotten directly from Frank Lucas. Lucas made threats about killing Gino, and is often given credit for his murder. However, according to FBI reports, Gino was most likely killed by the special kill squad of the Gambino crime family (the .22 Caliber hitters), to prevent his testimony against them when he switched sides.

In 1976, Lucas was convicted of both federal and (New Jersey) state drug violations, and sentenced to 70 years in prison. The next year he began giving evidence that led to the prosecution of numerous government law enforcement agents and eventually led to the convictions of more than 100 other drug criminals, and in 1981 he was released from jail for his cooperation. Two years later he was arrested once again and charged with conspiring to distribute heroin. In 1984 he was found guilty of the new charge and sentenced to seven years in prison.

It’s great to enjoy watching movies like these but I have to admit heroin dealers really piss me off. Without them we wouldn’t have to deal with heroin junkies, and if you live in a city with a population of more than 9 people surely you’ve seen at least one. As a matter of fact, we’re going to post about one you all know very well later today.

This movie looks awesome, and it’s in theaters November 2, 2007.

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