By Dan Murphy
One of the mysteries surrounding the death of Alpo Martinez, one of Harlem’s notorious drug dealers, on Halloween night 2021 is the video he shot with xxx back in 2019. with Troy Reed.
Most who have watched it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_H878x_Ks find it in bad taste, because Alpo retraces the way in which he killed Rich Porter, his best friend and partner in the Harlem drug trade. Alpo, Rich and Azie Faison were memorialized in the movie Paid in Full.
But now Alpo’s son, Popperazzi Po, is making videos and talking about his discussions with his father in the last few years of his life. Popperazzi Po does give us insight into the documentary that turned many in Harlem and beyond against Alpo. And he explains that Alpo did NOT want the video-documentary released until he was dead, and that Troy Reed either betrayed his trust, or let the video fall into the wrong hands.
“That video was supposed to be recorded and put away, a video that worst case scenario if anything ever happened…it was never supposed to come out. And they leaked it, and everytime footage got out my pops would call me to get them to take it down….I’m not supposed to be in New York, take it down. It was a headache,” said Popperazzi Po in his latest YouTube interview with Say Cheese,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTy1LWkQOcQ&t=106s
Popperazzi Po also gives us another reason why Alpo killed Rich Porter and wanted to kill the third member of the Harlem drug partnership, Azie Faison. The knowledge that both were cooperating with law enforcement and might turn him in.
In the months before Rich Porter’s death, someone kidnapped Rich’s kid brother Donnell, and demanded a $500,000 ransom. The kidnappers cut off Donnell’s finger and sent it back to Rich. A decison was made then to go to the FBI for their help in trying to get Donnell back alive. That is what Rich was talking to the Feds about.
Around the same time, Azie Faison got shot nine times in a drug robbery attempt. After the shooting, Azie retired from the Harlem Drug biz, and some claim that he cooperated with the Feds against some other Harlem drug dealers.
According to Popperazzi Po, this is the reason why Alpo may have wanted both men dead. “There was more to the story, He (Rich) became more of a threat than a friend. Both of them (Rich and Azie) were cooperating at the time. Maybe that’s why he killed Rich and tried to kill Azie. He never knew how much more lies Rich would tell me Especially if i know that you, your family, Azie are working with the feds. Azie just got shot up. Maybe i should kill both of you and go to DC. Nobody knows what the reason is but if you use your common sense, they were working with the police first and he tried to get rid of them.”
Popperazzi Po, whose real name is Randy Harvey, brings several good stories about his father Alpo in the Say Cheese interviews.
