Was ‘American Gangster’ based on a true story?

Described as one of Denzel Washington’s best character portraits, the life of drug lord Frank Lucas loosely inspired the film “American Gangster.” It was released in 2007, almost forty years after the real Frank Lucas built an empire smuggling heroin from Asia into the United States. Using American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, Lucas made connections with Army officials to run his business in the city of Harlem.

Lucas’ lifestyle inspired an article written by author Mark Jacobson and published by ‘New York Magazine’. In the article, which chronicled his rise and fall, the film prompted fans to wonder: Was ‘American Gangster’ based on a true story?

Who was Frank Lucas, the American gangster?

Lucas’ reputation painted him as a major drug dealer in Harlem in the 1970s. However, his story began in North Carolina. He witnessed the murder of his cousin at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan for fueling his life of crime. Richie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe, said that Lucas could very well have killed more people than the KKK over the course of his career.

Ironically, Roberts became a confidant of Lucas after investigating him for years and ultimately solving the case that landed Lucas behind bars. As for how he built his empire, fueled by a brutal murder that led to many more murders, reports suggest it was all based on fear. A scene in the film where Washington kills Tango (played by Idris Elba) in broad daylight speaks to the truth of Lucas’ murderous nature (and actually happened in Lucas’ real life).

How building connections secured Lucas’s empire

This show of force helped Lucas gain the respect of his family, employees, and ultimately Bumpy “The Godfather of Harlem” Johnson (played by Forest Whitaker). Lucas was then taken under Johnson’s wing and helped him make contacts with the Italian mafia. (Lucas later tried to break away from the mafia to work for himself, although maintaining ties was also on his agenda with a certain someone who worked for the government.)

Details of how Lucas smuggled the drugs have been questioned, although reports confirm that Sergeant Leslie “Ike” Atkinson obtained the product. A story by retired Vietnam veterans from ‘Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers’ explores the origin story of one of the biggest drug lords in American history.

The end of Lucas’ reign over Harlem

Although the vet was diligent in finding means of transportation, hollowing out furniture, and altering the bottoms of bags, the empire would eventually go up in flames once Lucas was arrested in 1975. Lucas’ career would gross more than $400 million between 1968 and 1975 before his release. to an end.

Roberts obtained a confession from Lucas’ cousin, despite several members of his family continuing the operation. After Roberts found $10 million worth of heroin on their property, Lucas finally confessed. That cousin would have served a life sentence, while Lucas (for cooperation) received a reduced sentence of only six years.

‘American Gangster’ told a true story about fear, violence and connections.