I watched this documentary on Frank Matthews again and I wonder why a movie was made about Frank Lucas but never Frank Matthews. Matthews was more powerful than Lucas and Barnes combined(according to the doc). A contributor to the documentary also said “The mob is overrated” when talking about their dealings with the American Mafia. What are your thoughts on this? I’ll link the video below. The mob is overrated comment is at about 44 minutes and 8 seconds if you just want to skip to that part.

https://youtu.be/HUHoKzcyka0

I watched the documentary and also read the book about Frank Matthews a few years back. Definitely an interesting figure.

While he may have had more money than any individual mobster, I wouldn't say he was more powerful than the mob as a whole in its prime. The mob had control over so many businesses, both legal and illegal, and was able to endure for decades, whereas Matthews made heaps of money selling drugs then disappeared. His organization disappeared with him.

Also, this might sound nitpicky, but they claim Tommy Lucchese lived on Todt Hill in Staten Island and was pissed off that Matthews moved in next door to him. From what I've researched, Lucchese lived on Long Island and probably would have been dead by the time Matthews got big.

I didn’t catch that one but I think you’re right about Lucchese. I think on a documentary I saw about him, it said he was living on Long Island. At that time there may have been a few mobsters who individually made money like him(Franzese and Lombardozi could be examples assuming that was their era) but as an organization as a whole there was nothing like the mob at that time I’m sure. I’ve had a similar convo in other threads I’ve made but the top earners in Italy probably blow what Matthews, Lucas and Barnes made combined away. Still would love to see a movie made about him. I wonder if anybody has any idea where he fled to.

Or Matthews was killed and his body was buried.

Also a possibility. Maybe the Mob had a motive to kill him. Or some other drug dealers on the come up.

Matthews seemed like a very calculated guy based on how people talk about him

What top earners in Italy made more than Matthews, Lucas, & Barnes combined in the late 60s- early 70s?

He's still alive , imo.

During that era I’m not sure. I would probably say none. But from the 90s up to present day there have definitely been multiple. Toto Riina being one.

There may have been a handful of American mobsters who could have been out earning him but I’m not sure if the Italian Mafia was the powerhouse at that time that it soon became in the late 80s early 90s.

That's hard to say at the time ( 1968-73) overall. It should be around $100 million earned in that short period overall in Frank Matthews Network. Probably $300 million+ in this this time frame. Hence his status in the heroin trade and only other peer would be Leslie " Ike" Atkinson. Still interesting that their Southern ties is to the same state and influences still there.

Never heard of Atkinson before. But Lucas is also from North Carolina. Funny how the one big drug lord at that time that was actually from Harlem did not run harlem(Barnes). Franzese was actually at his peak after Matthews had left. I’m not sure of a mobster who was profiting from their activities like Matthews was at that time. But I wouldn’t doubt that there was one. It would have to be a top boss I would think.

I’ve seen people talk about Carmine Lombardozzi and his wealth on here but I haven’t really seen too much about actual numbers regarding his wealth online. I don’t think any seizures were done on his assets so it’s hard to say if he was making Frank Matthews money or anything close to it. I read that he had a rolls royce, mansion and yacht but that doesn’t tell me that he was competing with Matthews or Lucas exactly.

i bet there was some under the radar guy in the luchese who made way more money. lucas turned rat like barnes. them guys the prince street crew probaly made way more or pat conte the gambino zip boss in 70tys into 80tys

Almost all of the big time black NY drug dealers snitched.
All the black Chicago crime bosses went down with the ship. People should really look outside of NY when it comes to organized crime

Prince street in Newark?

There’s snitches everywhere. Including Chicago. But I understand what you mean. Sometimes people don’t get recognition because they’re not in a big market. Happens all the time in sports.

The big shots from chicago that were around in barnes/Lucas/mathews era didn't snitch. I'm sure somebody snitched on them but they all took their charges and got sent up the river. Nowadays you can basically count on going to jail from somebody telling on you

When you get into 90s then you have another generation of kingpins to be equally or more lucrative as individual top earners of the LCN.

We cannot compare the Mafia with the black drug lords because first of all the Italians created their organizations centuries ago, while the black criminals began getting big at the start of the 20th century, mainly with the help of their policy racket. Also most of the black drug lords lasted for a decade or two and so you cannot compare their financial income with some Mafioso who was born in 1906 and died in 1992 and on top.of that he left one huge crime legacy behind him which lasts even today. I mean if a Mafioso such as Accardo who started making big income since the late 1920s, then you can imagine how much cash he managed to spent or invest through out his life time. Also you have Mafiosi who completely infiltrated huge legit industries and somehow managed to get "clean"....we are talking about different goals and different types of criminals... two different worlds...and the only thing which used to connect them was obviously gambling...and possibly the dope biz from time to time.

I think that in terms of income, the only Mafioso who can be compared to guys such as Matthews or Lucas is Al Capone....short career followed by a lot of cash...i mean you can calculate 100 mil during the early 1930s in todays cash but dont forget that all of that money didnt went only in Als pockets but instead some went for corruption and the rest went up or down the scale since as I previously said, it was all about maintaining the organization

can anyone verify Frank Matthews d.o.b is feb 13th, 1944.? I've read that knot much is known about his childhood or his parents. where's the birth certificate?

The policy racket was one of the main rackets, the others will be bootlegging & other gambling rackets ( also prostitution). I wouldn't say the criminal types are completely different as those Black drug lords did the same thing getting involved in legit business and some did manage to get clean. In regards to rackets besides drugs & gamble; you also have contract hits, prison smuggling, and a few other rackets that they often cross path.

There's a highly regional interaction as well due to LCN membership being highly concentrated to their metropolitan territories ( Mainly NYC, NJ, Philly, New England, Chicago, & Detroit). While Black racketeers in those areas have been the historical focus, there's more of them in the South that's is just recently getting attention.

Not sure if there were any American drug kingpins during that time who were really seeing the money that the Sicilian mafia, Camorra or ndrangheta were seeing at that time up until now.

I’ve heard $100 mill before. I always found it hard to believe but it made me wonder how much his criminal organization as a whole was making then. He was the boss for a very short amount of time though, you’re right about that. It’s easy to forget sometimes. $100,000 in 1930 is worth around $1.5 million today based on what I just calculated with inflation online(trusting that it’s accurate). So if Capone made $10,000,000 then that’s around $150 million adjusted for inflation. So based on the amount of money he made in that short amount of time, maybe he would be a good comparison.

During that era I’m not sure. I would probably say none. But from the 90s up to present day there have definitely been multiple. Toto Riina being one.
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When you get into 90s then you have another generation of kingpins to be equally or more lucrative as individual top earners of the LCN.[/quote]

Not sure if there were any American drug kingpins during that time who were really seeing the money that the Sicilian mafia, Camorra or ndrangheta were seeing at that time up until now. [/quote]

Note: I stated INDIVIDUAL mobsters, not the whole associations.

Matthews escape with 20 milions that are 113,530,630.63 dollars today. So yes he was a boss for a short times but his organization was more large than italians and coresicans because the blacks was more and Matthews sold dope in a 20 and more states.

Had Matthews been able to continue, is it safe to say that he would’ve been the most powerful crime figure in the country or possibly even the world?

In the country maybe,not in the world because few years after the colombians would compare on the crime scene.

When you get into 90s then you have another generation of kingpins to be equally or more lucrative as individual top earners of the LCN.[/quote]

Not sure if there were any American drug kingpins during that time who were really seeing the money that the Sicilian mafia, Camorra or ndrangheta were seeing at that time up until now. [/quote]

Note: I stated INDIVIDUAL mobsters, not the whole associations.[/quote]

I was also referring to individual mobsters within those criminal orgs as well, I did not make that clear in my post though.

Based on the money figures that you provided, Matthews’ wealth was comparable to Capone’s? How would Matthews compare to Franzese who was taking in around 7 figures a week from his gasoline scam or Riina who some say was a billionaire in the 1980s?

Also, do you think the Italians were jealous of Matthews because of the wealth and power that he accumulated in a far shorter span of time than they ever did?