Alberto “Alpo” Martinez was shot and killed Sunday (Oct. 31) morning around 3:30 a.m. in a 2017 Dodge Ram, according to a New York Police Department (NYPD) source who confirmed the victim’s identity with The New York Post. He was 55 years old. The infamous drug dealer was hit with a barrage of bullets from a moving vehicle on W. 147th St. near Frederick Douglass Blvd. in New York City.
EMS transported Martinez, who was struck with five bullets, to Harlem Hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival by medical officials. Martinez rose to prominence in the 1980s with fellow drug lords Rich Porter and Azie “AZ” Faison. The trio’s drug trafficking operation spanned several states and cities along the East Coast, including New York, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C.
According to The New York Post, Martinez’s last known address was in Maine. A high-ranking police source told the outlet Martinez was “in danger as soon as he returned to his old stomping ground.”
“You were in the witness protection program because you testified against other drug dealers,” the source said. “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.”
“It seems pretty intentional when you shoot somebody five times,” the same police source mentioned. Martinez was arrested in November 1991 for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. After agreeing to testify against his former associates, mainly D.C. drug dealers, he was released from a federal supermax prison in Colorado in 2015. After spending over 30 years behind bars, he was placed in a witness protection program.
The character Rico — portrayed by Cam’ron — in the 2002 film Paid in Full is loosely based on Alpo. His name has been used in rap songs by Future, Meek Mill, JAY-Z, Lil Boosie, Nas, Jim Jones, and several other artists. There have been no arrests. And the incident is still under investigation.