FAQ

The Carter was already a slum, a neglected apartment building in Harlem that had long since become a haven for poverty-stricken families. Nino and Gee Money see that the weakened social structure of the community inside the building is about to collapse. Add to that the gangster that they depose who'd probably contributed to the breakdown of the community in the Carter for years or decades, and the CMB had the perfect opportunity to march in and take over.

Nino and his brother, Gee Money and their crew had, after their violent takeover of the Carter, had very steadily and perhaps silently -- looking to tone down the violence they used to seize the building -- built their crack-based empire over a 7 year period. They built their power and influence, used the building's remaining residents as hostages and recruited an army of people to help them produce and distribute their product and also serve as a security force for the property.

The police also ran into a few age-old tactics used by gangsters: they effectively hide their illegal activities and draw little attention to the methods they use to enforce them. Nino also has hired several high-powered lawyers to insure that he or anyone in his chain of command will be indicted for any wrongdoing. Nino has also very likely bribed city officials to ignore the crime empire he commands.

It's only after several years of violence and a noticeable increase in crack-dealing and addiction in the community that the NYPD is able to build a strong enough case to have a special detail assigned to investigate and bust the CMB. That team includes a suspended cop, Scotty, and a burned out cop, Peretti. They begin an operation that takes them undercover to expose Nino as a criminal overlord.