Cover Story: The story so far

• Circa 2000: Ten years after Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother, Terry “Southwest T,” began to operate an alleged drug ring, the organization has set up hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, L.A. and St. Louis and begins to call itself “the Black Mafia Family.” The organization would traffic $270 million worth of cocaine over a 15-year period, according to investigators.

• November 2003: Meech is questioned by Atlanta Police in connection with the Buckhead shooting deaths of Anthony “Wolf” Jones, who happened to be P. Diddy’s former bodyguard, and Wolf’s friend, Lamont “Riz” Girdy.

• March 2004: A business called BMF Entertainment is incorporated, with Meech as its CEO. Though a hip-hop label, the company becomes more well-known for its fast lifestyle and opulent parties than for its records.

• July 2004: Rashannibal “Prince” Drummond, 23, is shot to death during a melee in the parking lot behind the Velvet Room. The fight at the Midtown club pitted Prince and his friends against a crew of men that was leaving the parking lot in a fleet of high-end cars. Atlanta Police believe the men in the fancy cars were mainly BMF members.

• Fall 2004: Rappers Young Jeezy, a friend of Meech who gives shout-outs to BMF on his records, and Gucci Mane meet in a shoe store downtown. Jeezy, the more established star, lays down a few verses for Gucci on a song called “Icy.” But the two artists later have a falling out and dis each other on mixtapes and records.

• May 2005: Two members of a Macon rap trio called Loccish Lifestyle come to Atlanta to try to score a record deal with Jeezy and his Corporate Thugz Entertainment label. While they’re in Atlanta, five men with weapons burst into the home of a stripper who’s entertaining Gucci and a friend.

To comment further on this story, please go to Part III.