Black Mafia Family

This article is about the Detroit-based organized crime group connected to the hip-hop music business. For the African-American organized crime group operating in the Philadelphia Metro Area, see Black Mafia.
For the television series, see BMF (TV series).
Black Mafia Family
Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory (right, in green) and Chad "J-Bo" Brown
FoundedLate 1985; "BMF" acronym started to be used around 2000
Founding locationDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
Years active1985–2005[1][2][3][4][5][6]
TerritoryStates: Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio
MembershipOver 500[7]
ActivitiesDrug trafficking, money laundering
AlliesFolk Nation (Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Black Gangsters, Insane Spanish Cobras, Maniac Latin Disciples, Imperial Gangsters, Gangster Sin City Boys, Simon City Royals, etc), Crips, Zoe Pound, etc.
RivalsPeople Nation (Cash Flow Posse, Latin Counts, Out Cold Gangsters, Vice Lords, Almighty Gaylords, Latin Kings, etc) Bloods, Aryan Brotherhood and other white supremacist gangs, etc.

The Black Mafia Family (BMF) is a drug trafficking and money laundering organization in the United States. It was founded in 1985, in Southwest Detroit by brothers Demetrius Edward "Big Meech" Flenory and Terry Lee "Southwest Tee" Flenory. By 2000 it had established cocaine distribution sales throughout the United States through its Los Angeles-based drug source and direct links to Mexican drug cartels.[8][9] The Black Mafia Family operated from two main hubs: one in Atlanta for distribution run by Demetrius Flenory and one in Los Angeles to handle incoming shipments from Mexico run by Terry Flenory.[10]

The Black Mafia Family under Demetrius Flenory entered the hip-hop music business as BMF Entertainment in the early 2000s as a front organization to launder money from cocaine sales and to legitimize itself. BMF Entertainment served as a promoter for several high-profile hip-hop artists, and as a record label for their sole artist Bleu DaVinci. Demetrius Flenory and the Black Mafia Family became famous in hip-hop culture for their highly extravagant lifestyles.

In 2005, the DEA indicted members of the Black Mafia Family, ultimately securing convictions by targeting the Flenory brothers under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute, and both were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Prosecutors alleged the Black Mafia Family made over $270 million in the course of their operations.[7]

  1. ^ "DEA Deals Motor City Mafia a Knock-out Blow". Drug Enforcement Administration. October 28, 2005. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "23 gang members arrested in crackdown". Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Eastern District of Missouri | More than Two Dozen Arrested in Roundup of Members and Associates of the Black Mafia Family | United States Department of Justice". October 19, 2023.
  4. ^ "Is BMF Bouncing Back? Recent Slaying in Gang's Hometown of Detroit Has Street Talking of Syndicate's Renewed Presence". January 7, 2017.
  5. ^ "Eastern District of Missouri | Drug Ring Leader Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Drugs and Murders | United States Department of Justice". May 24, 2019.
  6. ^ "Member Of "Black Mafia Family" Sentenced To 30 Years For Conspiracy To Possess And Distribute Coca". www.justice.gov (Press release). October 26, 2011 – via USDOJ: US Attorney's Office - Western District of Kentucky.
  7. ^ a b Snell, Robert. "Black Mafia Family leader 'Big Meech' gets prison break in Detroit drug case". The Detroit News.
  8. ^ "Black Mafia Family Members Sentenced to 30 Years" (Press release). US Drug Enforcement Administration. Archived from the original on September 16, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  9. ^ United States v. Smith, April 7, 2010, Law.com
  10. ^ "Black Mafia Family Members Sentenced to 30 Years" Archived September 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, September 12, 2008, Drug Enforcement Administration