Drug probe nets alleged mastermind Multimillion-dollar coke ring busted

Drug probe nets alleged mastermind
Multimillion-dollar coke ring busted
By Laurel J. Sweet  |   Friday, December 3, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

MONEY BAGS: Officials show off money recovered from the bust of an alleged cocaine ring.
Photo by Christopher Evans

A Dorchester drug lord dripping with diamonds employed family, lovers and neighbors during the 20 years he ran a multimillion-dollar coke and crack ring — but now faces spending the rest of his days in a no-frills cell, authorities said yesterday.

Michael “Muscle Mike” Williams, 43 — a father of six described by a law-enforcement source as one of Boston’s “original gangsters” — topped a chart of 20 men and women charged by the feds yesterday with distributing massive amounts of crack manufactured in Dorchester tenements.

“We’re talking about millions and millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said of Operation Magic Wand.

The investigation was ongoing since June 2009 when a “crack cook”-turned-informant told authorities the coke cabal had “devastated the neighborhood,” according to documents released yesterday.

“Mr. Williams ran a criminal organization for 20 years in this city, and his major mistake was resorting to violence last year,” said Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis. “We told him to stop the violence, put the guns down. He didn’t listen.”

The “financially successful, family-run’’ gang was busted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, state and Boston police and the U.S. Marshals.

The defendants, who include Williams’ cousin Donald “Ducky” Williams, range in age from 24 to 60. They are scheduled for a Dec. 10 detention hearing in U.S. District Court.

Thirteen search warrants executed yesterday yielded nine firearms, a butcher knife, a bulletproof vest, a gas mask, luxury cars, steroids, $125,000 cash and a bag of bling that included a diamond-encrusted Breitling watch from Michael Williams — who kept pit bulls as bodyguards.

Authorities also seized three Greenwood Street homes allegedly used to process and sell crack. And last night, the only thing left twinkling on Greenwood — a working-class neighborhood of triple-deckers —were the Christmas lights strung by residents.

One man, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had noticed drug addicts loitering in the area.

“It’s good that they shut it down,” he said of the alleged operation. “There was a lot of shootings and stabbings.”

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