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The UNTOLD Story of America's First Drug Empire (1920s Crime Documentary)
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Jun 20, 2025
📖 The shocking true story of how America's first drug cartel emerged from the shadows of Wall Street and created a criminal empire that would shape the nation's future. 🕰️ Journey back to the 1920s and discover how Arnold Rothstein, the mastermind behind the Black Sox scandal, secretly mentored future crime bosses like Lucky Luciano and transformed street criminals into sophisticated international drug traffickers. 🔍 In this deep-dive documentary, we expose: • How Prohibition created the perfect storm for organized crime • The forgotten Jewish kingpin who taught the Mafia how to run drugs • The truth behind Lucky Luciano's rise to power • How the Federal Bureau of Narcotics waged America's first war on drugs • The real story behind infamous gangster "Legs" Diamond ⚠️ WARNING: This video contains true crime content and historical discussions of organized crime. 🎬 Based on extensive research and historical documents, this documentary reveals the untold origins of America's drug crisis and the birth of modern organized crime. The UNTOLD Story of America's First Drug Empire | From Wall Street to the Mafia (1920s Crime Documentary) #TrueCrime #OrganizedCrime #History #Documentary #Mafia #Prohibition #AmericanHistory #CriminalEmpire #HistoryChannel #TrueCrimeDocumentary --~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Like and subscribe will be greatly appreciated! 🙏
View Video Transcript
0:00
okay so you think you know the story of
0:02
America's war on drugs yeah the common
0:04
narrative the usual suspects the
0:06
timeline maybe you've heard well um get
0:09
ready to have that picture completely
0:10
flipped yeah because the real start of
0:13
this whole thing the you know the birth
0:15
of the illicit international drug trade
0:18
it goes way way back early 20th century
0:21
and involves characters you probably
0:22
link more with like speak easys and
0:25
prohibition booze not necessarily heroin
0:28
exactly it it's surprising now humans
0:31
have used narcotics forever basically
0:34
for cultural reasons medical reasons
0:36
right that's ancient history but this
0:37
specific heroin problem the one we sort
0:40
of grapple with today it has a very
0:42
distinct origin story tied to a specific
0:44
time and uh frankly a pretty brutal set
0:46
of individuals yeah so for this deep
0:49
dive we're pulling from this great
0:50
YouTube transcript Dope Men America's
0:53
first drug cartel forgotten kingpins the
0:55
brutal truth m and our mission really is
0:58
to uncover this kind of forgotten
0:59
history of America's original drug lords
1:03
and figure out how that early period
1:06
really set the stage for well everything
1:08
that came after the landscape we see now
1:11
so where do we start the basics I guess
1:13
morphine right morphine comes from opium
1:15
poppies grown in places like uh Italy
1:19
Turkey back then and it was seen as a
1:21
medical breakthrough for pain absolutely
1:23
a miracle drug initially then opium
1:26
itself starts showing up more in the US
1:28
late 1800s and that's largely linked to
1:30
Chinese immigrants the railroad workers
1:32
that's the connection often made yes and
1:35
it leads pretty quickly to this next
1:36
step the first sort of local drug laws
1:40
like in San Francisco 1875 you see an
1:43
ordinance specifically targeting opium
1:46
smoking ah so not the drug itself
1:48
necessarily but the way it was used and
1:50
who was using it exactly it's
1:51
immediately tied to social anxieties
1:53
about a specific group it's less about
1:55
public health more about you know
1:57
targeting immigrants and then heroin
1:59
gets synthesized from morphine yeah and
2:01
the irony is just staggering it was
2:04
meant to be a fix for morphine addiction
2:06
safer they thought oh well instead it
2:08
turned out to be way more addictive much
2:11
much worse it just poured fuel on the
2:13
fire but people must have known
2:14
addiction was a risk right even back
2:16
then you'd think so and well the
2:19
transcript actually points this out you
2:20
had LA Times ads in the 1890s ads for
2:24
what for cures cures for ladum addiction
2:27
morphine cocaine so the problem was
2:30
already there significant enough for
2:33
people to be advertising cures
2:34
definitely it wasn't like these drugs
2:36
appeared and suddenly boom addiction it
2:39
was simmering but the market then was uh
2:42
different how so pretty small scale the
2:45
transcript calls them crooks low-life
2:47
pickpockets not exactly sophisticated
2:49
cartels yet right and morphine was still
2:52
relatively easy to get yeah even in
2:53
over-the-counter stuff medicinal elixirs
2:56
you know housewives could get hooked
2:57
without even realizing it just taking
2:58
their medicine okay so things are
3:00
simmering addiction exists but it's kind
3:02
of low-level maybe some medicinal use
3:05
then comes the big shift the Harrison
3:07
Act 1915 now this is presented as a tax
3:10
law right a revenue act on paper yes a
3:13
way to track and tax cocaine and opium
3:16
but how it was used that's the key what
3:19
happened it became a tool for
3:20
prosecution doctors started getting
3:22
arrested for prescribing these drugs for
3:25
maintaining addicts so a tax law becomes
3:28
effectively prohibition pretty much and
3:31
you can't separate that from the social
3:32
climate the fear around Chinese opium
3:35
dens the general anxiety about
3:37
immigrants it all feeds into this move
3:39
to restrict access exactly the Harrison
3:42
Act gave them the legal teeth to do what
3:44
maybe society kind of wanted anyway
3:46
which was to crack down and the result
3:48
predictable maybe totally predictable in
3:50
hindsight you create a massive black
3:52
market overnight the transcript mentions
3:55
a huge number of addicts just in New
3:56
York something like 200,000 and suddenly
3:59
these people aren't patients anymore
4:00
they're criminals and the language
4:02
changes too doesn't it from habitu which
4:04
sounds almost neutral right to addict
4:06
and then even worse fiend it gets this
4:09
heavy moral judgment attached so it
4:11
shifts from a public health problem to a
4:14
crime problem and that creates the
4:15
perfect opening a vacuum solicit
4:18
businessmen entrepreneurs willing to
4:20
meet that now illegal demand by 1923 the
4:24
transcript says the international drug
4:26
trade is basically up and running wow
4:28
that fast the profits were just enormous
4:31
and this is happening alongside
4:32
prohibition the alcohol ban we think of
4:34
the roaring 20s the flappers the speak
4:36
easys yeah there's this romanticized
4:39
image but underneath the transcript
4:41
calls the narcotics trade sinister dirty
4:45
ugly a whole different reality so
4:48
prohibition 1920 and the Harrison app
4:50
before it's basically set the legal
4:53
template for drug prohibition that we
4:54
still kind of live with absolutely and
4:56
you see the same effects we saw with
4:57
alcohol right lost tax revenue no
5:00
product regulations so stuff could be
5:01
dangerous cut with anything plus that
5:03
social control element targeting
5:05
immigrants the new guy for things that
5:08
let's be honest probably everyone was
5:09
doing to some extent it's a pattern but
5:11
underlying it all is just basic
5:13
economics it's a line demand yep
5:15
government makes something people want
5:17
illegal someone else steps in to supply
5:18
it for a profit and that's where
5:21
organized crime thrives the transcript
5:23
makes a good point it's
5:26
self-perpetuating once it gets
5:27
established it's incredibly hard to root
5:30
out so in a way the government's actions
5:32
created these powerful gangsters you
5:34
could definitely argue that it took
5:36
street corner hoods as the transcript
5:38
says and gave them the means the massive
5:41
profits to become powerful enough to
5:43
corrupt politicians judges they built
5:46
empires on this and these early guys
5:48
they were smart they apparently saw that
5:51
drug prohibition might last even longer
5:53
than alcohol prohibition really they
5:55
anticipated that seems like it the
5:57
transition from bootlegging booze to
5:59
dealing drugs was for them pretty smooth
6:02
they already had the networks exactly
6:04
the customers the suppliers the control
6:06
of ports think long shoreman's unions
6:08
the corrupt cops and officials already
6:10
on the payroll wow so they just switched
6:12
products basically or added a new even
6:14
more profitable product line and the
6:17
American mafia Losta Nostra the
6:19
transcript is very clear narcotics were
6:22
a cornerstone more profitable than booze
6:24
potentially yes because of addiction
6:27
guaranteed repeat customers it was like
6:29
the ultimate racket okay so who were
6:32
these early pioneers we need names right
6:35
enter Arnold Rothstein ah the name pops
6:38
up in lots of context yeah gambling the
6:40
Black Sox scandal exactly he wasn't your
6:44
typical street thug more of a Manhattan
6:47
businessman a finance guy as the
6:49
transcript calls him jewish not Italian
6:51
mafia himself but crucial how so he was
6:54
an early adopter saw the potential in
6:56
narcotics especially opium very early on
6:59
and he became a mentor to who to the
7:01
next generation future big names Jewish
7:03
guys Italian guys Irish guys he wasn't
7:06
picky about ethnicity he cared about
7:07
business so he was providing the capital
7:09
the brains both he financed ventures but
7:12
he also provided the strategic thinking
7:14
he was the bridge between the underworld
7:16
and kind of legitimate business
7:18
practices twisted for illegal ends his
7:20
foresight was key and he taught these
7:22
guys absolutely taught them business
7:24
principles supply and demand applied to
7:26
crime and specifically he picked an
7:28
elite group to go global to travel the
7:31
world and secure the drug connections
7:33
the supply lines who was in this group
7:36
any names we'd recognize oh yeah charlie
7:38
Lucky luciano was mentioned he already
7:40
had drug arrests actually luciano wow
7:42
okay george Hump McManis maybe less
7:45
known in drug circles sydney Staser
7:47
abestein involved in check forgery and
7:49
drug shipments fatty Walsh too so
7:52
Rothstein is orchestrating this
7:54
international network back in the late
7:56
1920s yes he saw alcohol prohibition
7:59
winding down and knew they needed a
8:00
replacement income stream these guys
8:03
Stasure Stein they went everywhere
8:05
shanghai Formosa Belgium Paris Britain
8:08
setting up the pipelines how did they
8:10
actually smuggle it back then pretty
8:12
clever actually posing as legit
8:13
businessmen buying from pharmaceutical
8:16
companies sometimes exploiting customs
8:18
loopholes like how using fake names on
8:21
shipping documents maybe bribing the
8:23
right people to look the other way
8:25
standard smuggling stuff but applied to
8:27
narcotics on a new scale okay so the
8:29
drugs are flowing someone in law
8:31
enforcement must have noticed definitely
8:33
enter Charles H tuttle US attorney in
8:36
New York and he's getting worried
8:37
increasingly frustrated yeah he saw this
8:40
tide rising and felt powerless he
8:43
started pushing for a dedicated federal
8:45
agency to tackle it and that led to the
8:47
Federal Bureau of Narcotics created in
8:50
1930 and the guy they put in charge
8:53
Harry Anslinger ah the Harry Anslinger a
8:56
name synonymous with the war on drugs
8:58
the very same his background is really
9:00
telling grew up in Altuna Pennsylvania a
9:02
railroad town so company man values
9:05
corporate structure exactly he
9:07
understood organization but he also came
9:10
with baggage prejudices like what
9:13
particularly against Sicilians according
9:15
to the transcript he kind of lumped them
9:17
all in with organized crime early on he
9:20
had these corporate values temperance
9:22
values and uh a real love for cop action
9:25
so his approach was shaped by this from
9:27
the start seems likely the transcript
9:29
suggests he targeted Jewish traffickers
9:31
quite heavily at first then later the
9:33
Italian mafia playing on public fears
9:35
and biases maybe potentially even if
9:38
those groups weren't you know the only
9:39
ones involved or even the majority it
9:42
might have let others operate more
9:43
easily for a while and his methods what
9:45
did the FBN do undercover agents
9:48
informants intelligence
9:50
gathering basically the blueprint for
9:52
the modern war on drugs was laid down
9:54
right there in the 1920s and 30s way
9:57
before Nixon made it official that's
9:59
incredible the FBN was doing this so
10:01
early and get this the transcript says
10:03
the FB was detailing mob activities for
10:07
50 years before the FBI under Hoover
10:09
even publicly admitted the mafia existed
10:11
50 years hoover was denying it while
10:14
Anslinger's guys were building files
10:16
apparently so it positions Anslinger as
10:18
this well pioneer in federal law
10:20
enforcement when it came to drugs and
10:21
the Italian mafia despite his biases
10:24
quite a contrast to Hoover okay this
10:26
connects to something else the myth
10:28
about the mafia that they were somehow
10:30
above dealing drugs the whole man of
10:32
honor code total myth absolutely
10:34
debunked by the transcript they were in
10:35
it from the start heroin money was
10:37
flowing into Lacosa Nostra from its
10:39
inception they dominated the trade for
10:41
decades so why the denial why the story
10:44
they didn't deal drugs pr basically
10:47
public relations it made them seem maybe
10:49
slightly less monstrous especially later
10:52
maybe around the time the Godfather came
10:53
out huh so dealing drugs had a worse
10:56
stigma than say murder or extortion
10:59
seems that way yeah so they cultivated
11:01
this image there might have even been
11:03
internal pressure like an unspoken rule
11:06
don't get caught publicly doing drugs
11:08
keep it quiet even while they were still
11:10
doing it oh absolutely the money was
11:12
just too good we're talking hundreds of
11:14
millions over the decades from
11:16
prohibition right into the new
11:17
millennium and the FB archives compared
11:20
to the FBI's on organized crime back
11:22
then night and day according to the
11:24
transcript the FBN had the detailed
11:26
picture so the skills the mafia learned
11:28
during alcohol prohibition smuggling
11:31
routes bribery logistics they just plugs
11:34
into that existing machine precisely
11:36
they built the first really effective
11:38
international drug trafficking
11:39
organization sophisticated logistics
11:42
backup plans they were organized the
11:45
scale sounds immense the transcript
11:46
gives examples yeah wild stuff
11:49
unaccompanied bags on Alatalia flights
11:52
out of Milan baggage handlers involved
11:55
hiding it in things everything pallets
11:57
coffee machines tomato cans later on
12:00
disguised as candy bars hidden in
12:01
machine parts huge volumes like 20 kilos
12:04
a day sometimes insane and all that cash
12:07
needs cleaning right money laundering
12:09
101 the restaurant industry was perfect
12:12
the front business up front yeah but
12:13
also a way to smuggle hiding drugs and
12:16
food shipments coming in very convenient
12:18
the transcript also mentions these guys
12:20
the Ezra brothers the twins ah yes key
12:23
suppliers in the 20s they provided the
12:26
raw opium to like almost everyone in the
12:29
US dealing drugs back then and they kept
12:31
getting arrested repeatedly tried to get
12:32
naturalized failed but they just kept
12:35
going relentless going back to Roth team
12:37
for a sec his protection was key wasn't
12:39
it absolutely crucial he had lawyers on
12:41
call bail money ready he knew protect
12:43
his guys protected him so people
12:45
associated with him like Luciano or
12:47
Ligsdiamond even if they got arrested
12:49
for drugs sometimes they weren't
12:51
primarily known as drug dealers in the
12:53
public eye rothstein's planning and
12:55
protection helped shield them until
12:56
Rothstein himself met his end pretty
12:59
violently yeah the story's dramatic a
13:01
phone call a meeting at the Park Central
13:04
Hotel found shot in the groin do we know
13:07
who did it or why still debated likely a
13:11
gambling debt gone bad george Hump
13:13
Mcmanis one of his associates was the
13:16
main suspect but got acquitted and after
13:18
he died chaos opportunity knocks his
13:21
proteges basically raided his office
13:24
stole his records his notes take over
13:26
his operations exactly shows how central
13:28
he was and the power vacuum he left okay
13:30
let's talk about another big name from
13:31
that era jack Legs Diamond oh Legs
13:36
famous for surviving getting shot a lot
13:39
became a media sensation but his
13:40
background was a bit different yeah not
13:42
the typical immigrant poverty story he
13:44
and his brother Eddie were partners in
13:46
crime early on doing what freelance
13:49
stuff bodyguarding hijacking trucks then
13:51
he started working for Rothstein around
13:53
1923 as muscle initially yeah for a
13:56
garment factory strike Rothstein was
13:58
involved in diamond had a reputation as
14:01
a killer which Rothstein found useful
14:03
but Rothstein saw more in him he did
14:05
recognized his intelligence mentored him
14:08
too sent him to Europe on drug deals in
14:10
2526 so Diamond was involved in drugs
14:12
but also bootlegging very much so mixed
14:15
with guys like Luciano he even had his
14:17
own narcotics bust but Rothstein helped
14:19
him out so why didn't Diamond take over
14:21
when Rothstein died he was close bad
14:24
timing basically he was smack in the
14:27
middle of a brutal gang war with Dutch
14:29
Schultz had to lie low missed his chance
14:32
and his fame that actually hurt him big
14:34
time too much media attention couldn't
14:36
operate effectively other gangsters
14:39
started cutting ties he was too hot the
14:41
government was after him too
14:42
relentlessly they thought he was heading
14:43
back to Europe to connect with
14:45
Rothstein's old drug network was he
14:47
apparently not on that trip others were
14:50
setting up roots but he was traveling
14:51
separately got nabbed in Germany anyway
14:53
and deported on a ship with Canaries
14:57
seriously yeah the transcript mentions
14:59
that specifically kind of a weird detail
15:02
shipped back like cargo and when he got
15:06
back things were bad really bad owed a
15:10
lot of money to Capone other mob figures
15:12
from that European venture debts were
15:15
called in leading to more attempts on
15:17
his life finally they got him shot dead
15:20
in a boarding house late 1931 the mob
15:22
doesn't forget debts never and those
15:25
gangster funerals back then were
15:26
apparently quite the spectacle even
15:28
officials sometimes showed up who was
15:30
suspected in Diamond's murder capone
15:33
capone was an early suspect yeah they
15:35
had investment ties and Daimy's
15:37
territory was relevant for dope
15:38
shipments moving through Chicago
15:41
reinforces Capone's own involvement in
15:43
narcotics okay so that brings us to
15:45
maybe the biggest name lucky Luciano
15:49
architect of the modern American mob
15:51
arguably very close to Rothstein and
15:53
Meer Lansky too of course and definitely
15:55
involved in narcotics even without a
15:56
conviction for uh yeah his involvement
15:58
started way earlier than diamonds
15:59
actually as a teenager how did he
16:01
connect with Rothstein then as a buyer
16:03
initially and Legs Diamond working for
16:06
Rothstein would have been involved in
16:08
getting the drugs that Luciana then
16:10
distributed it's all interconnected and
16:12
the nickname Lucky the transcript has a
16:14
different story for that yeah not the
16:16
romantic surviving a ride story the real
16:18
story apparently is he got beaten badly
16:20
by detectives because he was hiding legs
16:22
diamond survived that hence Lucky
16:25
interesting and Luciana's approach to
16:27
crime was different more business-like
16:30
very much so more Americanized focused
16:33
on profit over old world traditions
16:36
willing to work with anyone regardless
16:38
of ethnicity if it made business sense
16:40
rothstein's influence is clear there so
16:42
when Roststein died in 28 Luciano
16:44
stepped up he had the relationships the
16:47
network he basically took over
16:48
Rothstein's central role and then
16:50
reshaped the whole landscape with the
16:51
commission the five families exactly
16:54
organizing the underworld bringing
16:55
structure to it new York Buffalo Chicago
16:58
but then the law caught up thomas E dwey
17:00
right dwey went after the mob hard in
17:04
New York his first big target
17:06
interestingly was Dutch Schultz another
17:08
Rothstein student but then he set his
17:10
sights on Luciano an antslinger at the
17:12
FBM he was obsessed with Luciano too
17:15
absolutely fixated on him as a drug
17:16
kingpin even though Luciano eventually
17:18
got convicted for pimping compulsory
17:20
prostitution like Capone and tax evasion
17:23
get him on something exactly nail them
17:25
however you can annslinger apparently
17:27
had a real personal animus as the
17:30
transcript puts it towards Luciano
17:32
luciano even had a rude nickname for
17:34
Annslinger slinger that's the one shows
17:37
the contempt but the FBN's tactics
17:39
focusing on these guys building
17:41
intelligence it worked in a way got
17:44
convictions faster sometimes seems like
17:46
it did put pressure on figures like
17:48
Luciano Vito Genevves others and even
17:50
after Luciano was deported he didn't
17:52
just retire he stayed connected
17:54
allegedly involved in drug trafficking
17:56
discussions in Cuba the Havana
17:58
conference in 46 and later in Italy in
18:00
the late 50s but the idea of him is this
18:02
single all powerful global drug lord
18:06
probably an exaggeration likely fueled
18:08
by Anslinger's own propaganda machine
18:10
luciano was a hugely important networker
18:13
a facilitator absolutely but maybe not a
18:16
Pablo Escobar type figure the transcript
18:18
notes he died relatively poor yeah which
18:21
doesn't quite fit the image of a global
18:23
drug emperor but Anslinger chased that
18:25
narrative right until Luciano died in
18:28
1962 never got definitive proof though
18:31
so bringing this all together the roots
18:33
of the heroin problem the opioid crisis
18:36
we see today they go right back here to
18:38
this period and the fact that it wasn't
18:40
really tackled effectively as a public
18:42
health issue from the start it became a
18:45
crime issue which created the market for
18:46
these guys and the war on drugs that
18:48
Anslinger kicked off its principles its
18:50
cycle yeah we're still kind of living
18:52
with it the debate continues prohibition
18:55
versus legalization the transcript has
18:57
that quote about trying to legislate
18:58
morality like adultery it's hard very
19:01
hard and you see the frustration from
19:03
law enforcement this feeling of playing
19:05
whack-a-ole take down one boss another
19:07
pops up some even argue Anslinger's
19:10
early focused approach might have been
19:12
better than what came later it's a
19:14
controversial point raised yeah the
19:16
debate is complex even if you legalize
19:19
would organized crime just find a new
19:21
angle cheaper illegal versions probably
19:24
it seems likely so as long as things are
19:26
illegal the cycle of trafficking
19:28
investigation
19:29
prosecution it just continues
19:31
understanding this history though seeing
19:33
where it started with Rothstein Luciano
19:37
Anslinger it gives so much context
19:40
absolutely those early Senate hearings
19:42
the investigations into the mafia into
19:44
Rothstein they were grappling with the
19:46
very origins of this okay so here's the
19:48
final thought for you the listener to
19:50
chew on given these really deep roots
19:53
this history of the international drug
19:55
trade starting way back with these
19:56
original dope men what are the best ways
19:58
the most effective strategies to
20:00
actually deal with addiction and the
20:02
power of organized crime today knowing
20:05
how entrenched it all is it really makes
20:07
you think differently about current
20:08
policies when you know the history
20:09
doesn't it absolutely yeah definitely
20:11
encourage you to dig deeper into these
20:13
figures rothstein Anslinger Luciano
20:16
Diamond there's so much more there
20:17
you'll find even more surprising
20:19
connections guaranteed