How San Francisco's BIGGEST Drug Lord Became The Top Cocaine Distributor For The Medellin Cartel

The Connect- with Johnny Mitchell

Johnny Mitchell

True Crime

4.3 • 563 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2025

⏱️ 136 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

James Beasley Jr. rose from the streets of Hunter’s Point to become San Francisco’s most notorious drug kingpin, moving 1,000 kilos of cocaine a month for the Medellín Cartel at the height of the crack epidemic. In this exclusive interview, Beasley reveals how he scaled his empire, outsmarted the DEA for years, and ultimately served 27 years in federal prison—not for drugs, but for tax evasion, like Al Capone. Now a free man and a millionaire once again through real estate, Beasley reflects on the street game, surviving the feds, and what it takes to rebuild. From cartel meetings in Colombia to front businesses in the Bay, this is a raw, unfiltered story of power, loyalty, betrayal—and redemption. 📖 Grab his book: Deep Rooted: San Francisco’s Most Notorious Crime Boss https://jamesbeasleyent.com/ Follow James on IG: https://www.instagram.com/drooted/ Help our brother Matyas overcome a difficult time and donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/qnpshd-matyas-retten-hws-cci-behandlung This Episode Is #Sponsored By Mando! Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get $5 off off your Starter Pack (that’s over 40% off) with promo code MITCHELL at https://mandopodcast.com/mitchell #mandopod Join The Patreon For Bonus Content! https://www.patreon.com/theconnectshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Project Hail Mary is an extraordinary cinematic experience.
0:03.9	You're a great scientist, Dr. Grace.
0:05.6	The world is counting on you.
0:07.0	Starring Ryan Gosling.
0:08.3	So I met an alien.
0:09.8	Two worlds, one impossible mission.
0:12.3	We're going to save the stars.
0:13.8	Project Hail Mary.
0:14.9	Amaze, amaze, amaze.
0:16.1	Seat first March 14th and 15th in Cinemas Everywhere, March 19th.
0:19.9	I wanted to be the biggest, the baddest.
0:22.4	I literally buy a kilo every day for a week.
0:26.1	Went to buying two vans and had a compartment underneath it that held 250 kilos in it.
0:31.3	This guy calls me up.
0:32.7	He says, Louis just said, you're a thousand kilos.
0:35.6	James Beasley Jr. is the biggest drug trafficker in San Francisco history.
0:40.2	At his height, he was moving a thousand kilos of cocaine every month directly for Pablo Escobar
0:45.8	and the Medellin cartel. He grew up in Hunter's Point on the south side of San Francisco,
0:50.9	surrounded by a family of gangsters. James began his criminal career in 1980 at the
0:56.1	age of 17, selling dimes of coke outside of a neighborhood liquor store. And by the time
1:01.0	crack exploded in 1985, James was clearing $8 million a month selling literal tons of cocaine
1:08.4	throughout the San Francisco Bay area and up the west coast of the United
	...

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