May 27-June 2, 2004

city beat

Drugs, Bugs and Biker Thugs

North Philly abuzz after coke roundup; South Philly sees some mob action.

by Brendan McGarvey

"I don't know anybody named Savage," Faridah Ali tells City Paper.

Ali and her husband, Shamsud-din Ali, a prominent Muslim cleric and political ally of Mayor John Street, find themselves at the center of the federal probe into alleged corruption involving City Hall.

She's talking about Kaboni "Bonnie" Savage, who, along with Gerald "Bubbie" Thomas, allegedly heads a large cocaine trafficking ring. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Thomas-Savage organization is one of two African-American narcotics gangs that the feds busted in separate arrests last week. Twenty-seven people were charged with dealing hundreds of pounds of cocaine worth millions of dollars.

During a three-year investigation, FBI wiretaps picked up drug dealers allegedly discussing payments they made to the Philadelphia Masjid, a mosque run by Shamsud-din Ali. Published reports also indicate that the feds wiretapped conversations between Thomas and Shamsud-din Ali.

"People do come here who've been to jail," Ali's wife says. She notes that a few members of the mosque at 47th Street and Wyalusing Avenue have been to prison, but she says that "we're not going to close our doors to somebody 'cause people made mistakes. But we're not going to condone illegal behavior."

About allegations that Shamsud-din Ali dealt with Thomas, Faridah Ali says, "if Shamsud-din's working with somebody, he's giving them religion. That's what he eats, sleeps and drinks."

One of Philadelphia's darker underbellies is the 24/7 drug trade. On the street-corner level, it's run by brutal gangs who battle savagely for turf. Even the most down-and-out neighborhoods see enough car and foot traffic to generate high narcotics profits. Customers include middle-class and wealthy suburbanites, who drive through daily in their vans and SUVs so desperate for a fix that they ignore the crack whores and homeless addicts who stand outside abandoned houses shooting, smoking or sniffing their smack, crack and crank in broad daylight.

Since news of the federal probe into alleged political corruption in Philadelphia broke in October, the background narrative has been about the lower depths of gun-toting drug pushers and zombie addicts. It's also about the blood money made in the most impoverished neighborhoods that flows up through the sewers, prisons and cemeteries and into the bank accounts of the traffickers and their powerful allies. Faridah Ali resents that the feds are trying to tie her family to the drug trade.

"I don't have any idea where this is coming from and why my name or my husband or my family is involved in so many aspects of this investigation," she says. "I can tell you somebody is giving the federal government bad information. Some of it is an absolute lie."

But at least one member of the reputed Savage-Thomas gang has had involvement with a person directly connected to the Alis.

Dawud Bey, one of the suspects arrested last week on drug charges, was acquitted of charges in connection with a housing scam last year. Bey's co-defendant Saeyda Quaye was found guilty of notarizing phony deeds for 33 properties; Quaye was the principal of the Sister Clara Muhammad School, which is run by the Alis. Faridah Ali scoffs at allegations that narco-money finances their school and their comfortable lifestyle.

"Nothing comes through this school but hard work," Ali says. "People say, "Oh, look, they have two Mercedes.' One of them is 10 years old. One I'm still paying for. We work hard all day, seven days a week. We don't live beyond our means. We live like normal people. I think someone is watching too much of The Sopranos."

Job Prospects

Last month, we found reputed Philly Mafia boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi crossing and re-crossing Broad and Shunk to attend two viewings at two different funeral homes. He'd returned from a Florida vacation to bid farewell to Joseph "Joe Crutch" Curro and to pay his respects to the father of another mob associate.

Curro served as consigliere for the local crime family in the years since Joey Merlino, et al., were sent away.

Next month, Ligambi's alleged underboss, Joseph "Mousie" Massimino, is off to jail for running a gambling and loan-sharking operation in New Jersey. Scheduled to be sentenced in Camden on June 18, Massimino's facing up to 10 years.

Curro's death and Mousie's incarceration create an opportunity for new promotions within the organization.

"A lot of the guys are dying off or in jail," explains one mob expert. "Ligambi's in the process of promoting new blood into leadership roles."

Since bookies and mob associates still hang out at the corner store on Ninth and Moore where Curro used to hold court, cops watching the place are trying to figure out who has taken Curro's No. 3 mob spot. In the meantime, it's business as usual.

"Last week we saw one of the Warlocks coming down to meet with those guys at Ninth and Moore," a law enforcement source says. "Two biker gangs are ready to kill each other -- the Pagans and the Hells Angels. But the Warlocks, they just want to stay in business so here they are, coming down to South Philly to take care of business with the local mob."