I'm from Detroit (originally from Australia, LOL!) but I get sick of talking about the place.
You gotta remember there's almost two Detroits: inside 8 Mile Road (blighted, rough, African-American neighborhoods) and outside 8 Mile Road (safe, white and suburban).
There is no sign of Italian LCN inside 8 Mile Road from what I've seen. From what I can gather, LCN in Detroit are strictly behind the scenes - no street level shit. Probably more into selling kilos, not nickel bags, in other words.
Detroit isn't really a gang town, as such. What I mean is there's no major Bloods/Crips type gangs, just smaller neighborhood gangs like the YBN crew. (The 'Young Brewster Niggaz' - they are kids whose parents were from the notorious Brewster Housing Projects on Detroit's rough Eastside.)
I live Downtown (business district and highrise apartments) but I frequently go into the 'hood coz a friend has 'dealings' there, shall we say. I'm often in his car so I have to go along for the ride. Heroin is called 'dog food'.
There's Mexicantown near the MCS train station ruins and the Ambassador Bridge, but I don't know if there's any Mexican gang activity around town. Detroit's a rough place and you have to steer clear of any shit to be safe. Being a ghetto-gawker can be dangerous.
The crack-cocaine epidemic of the 80s was probably when Detroit was its most murderous and most profitable for the local gangsters - Rockin' Reggie, Maserati Rick, Meech, The Best Friends, etc. All of that happened inside 8 Mile Road in the inner city. I suspect the LCN in expensive suits live in Grosse Point.
Hope it is worth gambling with your life so you can play gangster.
I grew up around there; life isn't worth a nickel in the Detroit ghetto.
It's not Ali G sh$t that goes on there it's Mogadishu style mindless violence with a drug chaser.
Some kids from Grosse Pointe were killed doing what you did last week.
Some French artist thought he'd explore Detroit last year and got murdered by a pack of teenagers for the handful of dollars he had in his wallet.
