Former Drug Kingpin Frank Lucas Dead at 88

On Thursday, May 30, former drug kingpin Frank Lucas, played by Actor Denzel Washington in the 2007 film American Gangster, passed away of natural causes at the age of 88 in New Jersey, according to TMZ.

Lucas moved heroin through the streets of Harlem during the 1960s and '70s, building an empire based on cutting out the middle man via international connects he had in South East Asia. People were killed, law enforcement officials were extorted and bribed, and more during his reign in the streets of New York. He was busted in 1975 and gave up information on 100 or more people, bumping his sentence down to only five years, of which he served and was released. Sometime later he served another seven years for a separate drug-related charge.

After his release, Lucas reportedly spent time working to make amends for the crimes he committed.