Newly released FBI files have revealed that hip hop super-group The Wu Tang Clan was involved in carjackings, murders, drug dealing and money laundering.
The FBI’s dossier on the group’s founding member, Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB) has been released in response to a Freedom of information request.
ODB, aka Russell Jones, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2004, after consuming a mixture of cocaine and opiates.
But the rap group continues and is releasing its 6th album this year.
“The WTC is heavily involved in the sale of drugs, illegal guns, weapons possession, murder, carjacking and other types of violent crime,” an early paragraph of the 94 page haul states, according to the Gun.io blog.
Russell Jones was arrested nine times between April 1, 1987, and January 15, 1999, for a range of crimes that included petty larceny, contempt and nonsupport of a child.
In January 1999, Russell Jones was charged with attempted murder in the first/second degree, criminal use of a firearm, and unlawful wearing of a body vest, Gun.io reported.
Riddled with violent crime, the late rapper’s file refers to the murder of Jerome Estrella aka Boo Boo, by an unnamed member of a gang called the Bloods, who allegedly sometimes acted as enforcers for the WTC.
The confessed killer allegedly offered to do a deal with detectives to provide information about the WTC.
Intriguingly one cutting in the file, documenting the late hip hop star’s forays with the law, details the arrest of P Diddy, though no actual connection between the two hip hop stars is made.
The file also describes a drug-deal gone bad that resulted in a shooting and carjacking on Staten Island.
One of those involved was allegedly a suspect in an unsolved murder supposedly ordered by the WTC in retaliation for a robbery.
Some ten pages of the folder are dedicated to a chain of events leading to the murder of a Robert Pooh Johnson in 1997.
After being shot and robbed by men wearing ski masks in his home ODB was interviewed by police. They allegedly made off with $10,000 worth of jewellery. ODB said he knew the gunman who lived down the street from him but did not want to continue with the investigation because of the possible repercussions for his family in the projects.
The document is heavily redacted and the sequence of events is not clear, but the file claims members of the collective bought a gun used to murder former associate Johnson in 1997.
“Johnson was an associate of the WTC who had a falling out with the group and it is believed that his murder was ordered by someone within the WTC,” the file states.
The files also claim that the Wu-Tang Clan used their record label to launder money.
Once a member had shown their commitment to the WTC, they were “offered record contracts to record rap type music”, with numerous recording companies set up for this purpose.
“This allows legitimate monies to flow into these accounts along with the proceeds from [redacted],” the files allege.
