The purple gang was the biggest manufacturer of Narcotics in the U.S. during the 1920s through their downfall in the early 1930s. They had pipelines to the west, south, east, and Canada. The Detroit family took over the operations and became powerful in the drug trade as many mobsters from around the county got their material or drugs from Detroit. The BoN kept good tabs and reports, not to mention that about 34 percent of their busts came from the state of Michigan during the 30's and 40s, plus another 19 percent connected to that state.