Frank Lucas, the real-life drug kingpin portrayed on the big screen by Denzel Washington in the movie American Gangster, has passed away at the age of 88. According to TMZ, the Harlem heroin dealer passed away on Thursday night on the way to a hospital in New Jersey.
Lucas famously smuggled his heroin into the United States from Southeast Asia by sneaking it inside the coffins of dead members of the U.S. military. Lucas was brought down by DEA agents in the '70s. Raids on his various properties across America found a massive amount of assets, including over half a million dollars in cash in his New Jersey home.
While Lucas was sentenced to 70 years in prison, he was released after five years with a lifetime parole. He was found to be violating in the '80s, when he was busted for dealing yet again. He served another seven years and was released in 1991.
Lucas' story was turned into a well-recieved Denzel Washington movie with a soundtrack that proved post-"retirement" JAY-Z still had the skill that made him a star. Twitter paid their respects to the late gangster.
