Twenty-five people have been arrested and nearly a dozen more remain on the run after a four-year drug investigation into late Bay area rapper Mac Dre’s independent label Thizz Entertainment. Authorities accuse the label of being a front for a nationwide Ecstasy operation.
Yesterday (April 24), several rappers affiliated with the label were arrested in a raid and charged with conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and codeine cough syrup, according to a report by AllHipHop. Authorities said, the rappers associated with Thizz used profits from their drug operation to financially maintain the label.
“This is another example of partnership that exists between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Vallejo Police Department to improve the safety of our community and reduce the level of violence associated with drug dealing,” Vallejo Police Chief Robert Nichelini said in a statement.
“We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California in coordinating the investigation and prosecuting the persons involved in such a complex and dangerous criminal enterprise,” he added.
According to authorities, they confiscated 45,000 e-pills, four pounds of crack cocaine, eight ounces of heroin and $200,000 in cash during the raid. Police also allege that Thizz ran two inoperative pot shops and a seized over 200 acres of land that the group allegedly used to grow marijuana.
Mac Dre, considered a Bay area legend in some circles, was gunned down in 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2008, fellow Bay area rapper Andre “Mac Minister” Dow was convicted of murdering the man rumored to have killed Dre, Anthony “Fat Tone” Watkins. Dre’s murder officially remains unsolved.
