Mugshot/InstagramIs Alpo Martinez dead?
Alpo Martinez is a notorious former New York drug dealer whose death is being widely reported on social media and various online sites, such as AllHipHop, which say that he was shot and killed in Harlem, but the New York Police Department told Heavy.com on the afternoon of October 31, 2021, that authorities are still trying to confirm the identify of the dead man. Videos emerged of the crime scene.
Police sources, however, have told a variety of New York news outlets, including the New York Post, that Martinez is the deceased victim. He had Texas license plates but was living in Maine, and the police source told The Post that he endangered himself by returning to Harlem, where he once ran a thriving drug trade.
“You were in the witness protection program because you testified against other drug dealers,” the source said to the Post.
“You’d make a lot of enemies who have a score to settle. When you return to the same area, word will get out very fast. He’s back in the zone.”
A high-ranking police source also confirmed Martinez was the victim to The New York Times, saying he was carrying an ID in the name Abraham Rodriguez.
A 1980s-era cocaine kingpin, Martinez’s story was told in the movie Paid in Full, although the character based on his story was named Rico. His full name is Alberto Geddis Martinez, and he was one of the biggest drug dealers in New York history.
Detective Francis Sammon, of the NYPD’s public affairs office, told Heavy.com that there was a shooting, and police have “heard plenty of reports calling in asking the same question” – that being, whether the victim was Alberto Martinez, better known as Alpo Martinez. Police are investigating those claims.
Sammon said the confusing part is that police found an ID on the shooting victim that “doesn’t match up with the name” of Alpo Martinez. “We are still working to identify him,” he said of the man who was shot. Thus, authorities have not yet confirmed that Alpo Martinez is dead. One thing that might complicate matters is that, according to All HipHop, it was widely believed that Martinez was in the federal witness protection program after turning on drug associates, which got him released early from federal SuperMax prison.
OnSmash shared videos from the scene. “Now confirmed by multiple associates that want to remain hidden. He was coming out of a club and got hit……” the site claimed on Twitter of Martinez.
Martinez “hails from Spanish Harlem and rose to prominence in the co*ke game in the 80’s,” according to Don Diva Magazine. “Alongside Azie ‘AZ’ Faison and Rich Porter, this trio–which the Roc-A-Fella movie Paid In Full was based on–revolutionized the cocaine trade in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem.”
My man in Harlem said they just smoked Alpo on his block
Here’s what you need to know:
NYPD Did Confirm There Was a Shooting
Sammon confirmed to Heavy.com that a man was shot “five times” while sitting in a 2017 Dodge ram vehicle. He was shot in the chest, chin, and three times in the arm.
The suspect and motive are not yet known, according to Sammon, who added of the victim, “We are working to identify him.” Asked which name was on the victim’s ID, Sammon declined to say, noting that family notifications were still being made.
He confirmed that police are investigating whether the victim was Alpo Martinez.
The Source is one of the online sites that reported that Alpo Martinez is the victim, saying it was a “drive-by.”
“Alpo was often reviled as a snitch who allegedly betrayed the street code to save himself, tarnishing his legacy in the streets,” the Source wrote.
Claims of Martinez’s Death Spread Quickly on Social Media & Videos Emerged of the Crime Scene
Despite the lack of confirmation from authorities, reports of Alpo Martinez’s alleged death spread quickly on social media. Videos emerged of the crime scene.
OnSmash wrote on Twitter, “We do find it odd he wasn’t wearing his bulletproof vest, which was seen frequently under his jackets in Harlem” and reported that Martinez was rushed to the hospital but couldn’t be saved.
Here’s more video from the crime scene.
In 1991, the Washington Post reported that Martinez, then 25, had been arrested by the FB and Washington D.C. police after being sought for “more than a year on cocaine distribution charges” in Northern Virginia.
Police believed that he had information about “some highly publicized homicides,” including the murder of a drug dealer, and claimed he “served as liaison between a New York cocaine operation and drug dealers in Washington, Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg area.”
In 2015, DonDivaMag claimed that Martinez was released from prison and was part of the witness protection program. The magazine reported that Martinez was regarded by some as a snitch for “telling on Wayne ‘Silk’ Perry, the man who protected him on the streets, with unyielding loyalty.”
AllHipHop is another site reporting that Martinez is dead. That site says he served 35 years in prison for 14 counts of murder but was released after testifying against drug associates.
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Jessica McBride is a news, sports, and entertainment reporter covering breaking news, politics sports, entertainment, and crime for Heavy. She is a former reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Waukesha Freeman newspapers in Wisconsin and is a senior journalism instructor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. More about Jessica McBride
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