Thread by @JustCallmeBHunt

The rise and fall of the Detroit Black Mafia Family (#BMF):

How the Flenory Brothers operated one of the largest urban dope-dealing conglomerates in history:

Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his younger brother Terry “Southwest T” Flenory co-founded the Black Mafia Family (BMF) in Detroit in the 1980s. The cocaine trafficking org. operated mainly in Detroit, Atlanta & L.A., had thousands of members, & made over $270 million.

Demetrius Flenory was born June 21, 1968 in Cleveland. In popular culture, he was the “face” of BMF. Known as “Big Meech,” he began selling drugs in the 1980s during his high school years at Detroit Southwestern. He was and still is considered the “Boss of All Bosses.”

Terry “Southwest T” Flenory was born January 10, 1972 in Detroit. He got the name because he was raised on the streets of Southwest Detroit. He was known as the mastermind of the BMF organization and unlike his brother, wasn’t a fan of bringing attention to what they were doing.

Their father, Charles Flenory was born March 18, 1948 in Cleveland. He was a musician who was known for playing the steel guitar. Flenory and his wife Lucille Flenory moved their family to Detroit in 1968 to pursue a career in music. He joined the ancestors in 2017.

The Flenory boys grew up in poor Southwest Detroit at 1555 South Edsel Street near River Rouge and Ecorse. Big Meech once said working a job at McDonald’s wasn’t going to cut it, and the quickest way to help his family was go sell drugs. That was 1980s Detroit in a nutshell.

When he was younger, Southwest T was shot in the right eye and because of a botched surgery, he was awarded a monetary settlement. He started a legitimate limousine service, which allowed them to transport cocaine and money across the country in secret compartments.

Through their cartel connection, BMF was able to move cocaine all across the country, to cities like Atlanta, L.A., St. Louis, Houston, Miami, and others. Their business prospered so much, Southwest T moved to L.A. and Big Meech to Atlanta to watch over their enterprise.

Coming from a musical family, Big Meech started BMF Entertainment with lone artist, Blue Da Vinci. He was also linked to Young Jeezy and anyone else that was hot in rap during that time, supplying money, cars, and jewelry. Many believe his flashy lifestyle was his demise.

November 11, 2004, Puff Daddy’s bodyguard, Anthony “Wolf” Jones and his friend Lamont Girdy were killed at Club Chaos in Buckhead Atlanta. Big Meech got into it with Wolf over a woman and a gunfight ensued. Meech was shot in the buttock and beat the double-murder case.

BMF was America’s urban legend when it came to street life. They came on the scene and ruled through drug and hip hop scenes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But, their reign would come to and end in 2005. By that time, the brothers had a strained relationship.

In 2005 in St.Louis, Terry Flenory was arrested by the DEA for his role in running a drug enterprise. Wiretaps and other tactics brought him down. In 2008, Southwest T was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was released in 2020, citing COVID-19 health concerns.

Demetrius Flenory was also arrested in 2005 just outside of Dallas. He was also charged with running a drug enterprise. Big Meech, too, received 30 years in prison and is still incarcerated. He has a released date of 2031, but that has since been reduced by three years.

This mansion in suburban Atlanta was dubbed “Space Mountain” by BMF. It’s where they stashed kilos of cocaine for their East cost operation. They’d operate in upscale neighborhoods so no one would think twice about what they were doing. Did this all across America.

BMF used to hide cocaine and money in limos and other cars. In 2003, this Hummer H2 limo was ceased from BMF. It was bought in 2005 and confiscated once again by the DEA from its new owner because $875,000 was found hidden in secret compartments by BMF.