A major new York drug lord "tainted witness" was shot in the street

According to Fox News, a notorious former New York City drug lord-turned-"tainted witness" was shot dead on Sunday (Oct. 31) after returning to his hometown in Harlem.

Fox News network reported with picture

Alberto "Alpo" Martinez, who once ran a cocaine drug trafficking empire from New York to Washington, D.C., for decades, was shot dead at around 3:30 a.m. in the driver's seat of a red Dodge Ram near West 147th Street in Harlem.

A senior police officer told The New York Times that the name on the Maine ID he was carrying was Abraham Rodriguez, but his real identity was Martinez. He received witness protection after his release from federal prison in 2015. Gunshots came from outside the driver's seat window and Martinez was shot several times, including in the chest, jaw and arm. The car that was hit by the bullet had a temporary Texas paper license plate.

Former inmate Seth Ferranti speculates that the search for the killer will be a lengthy process because Martinez has many enemies, from "family members of the person killed or denounced by Martinez" to "young gang members who know who he is and try to gain some prestige."

"I was amazed at how bold and reckless Martinez was, and this guy wasn't invincible," Ferranti said, referring to Martinez's move to return to Harlem while under witness protection. "Gangsters are using the Internet, and many of these high-profile informants are notorious online, and they don't even dare to go back to their hometowns."

Martinez was reportedly pronounced dead upon arrival at the Harlem Hospital center. Videos posted on social media in 2019 showed that he had previously returned to Harlem and bragged to the crowd about how he had killed his own best friend and former business partner, Rich Porter.

In accepting the plea deal, Martinez pleaded guilty to 14 murders, including the 1990 shooting of Porter. A few weeks later, Porter's 12-year-old brother Donnell was also found dead after being kidnapped for a $500,000 ransom. Martinez's killers also included a Brooklyn, New York drug dealer named Domencio Benson.

To avoid a life sentence, Martinez agreed to testify in federal court in Washington, D.C., accusing his drug cartel's subordinates, including Wayne Anthony Perry, who served as the executor of his gang, and Martinez was further labeled a "traitor." Martinez's gang was responsible for transporting more than 1,100 pounds (about 499 kilograms) of drugs into Washington in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to the Washington Post.

Martinez was sentenced to 35 years in ADX Florence, a federal super-prison in Colorado. He lives in a special area of the prison known as the "cheese factory," the prison of high-profile informants who are known as "rats" in American underworld circles and are protected by the police after their release. (Editor: SDY)