Felix Mitchell
Felix Mitchell (August 23, 1954 to August 21, 1986) led the criminal organization known as the “69 Mob” and was a key figure in the creation of a gang-based drug trade in the United States. From Oakland, California, Mitchell’s drug empire eventually spread to the Midwest.
Born in Oakland, Mitchell grew up in the 69th Avenue housing projects, and his criminal organization took its name from those projects. He founded the 69 Mob after dropping out of high school, and over the following years, took control of a significant portion of the heroin trade on the West Coast and further inland. Heroin use was significantly more common in the United States before it was overtaken by the cocaine trade in the mid-1980s. At his peak, Mitchell was earning approximately $800,000 per day in drug sales.
Targeted by law enforcement, Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison in 1985. He was stabbed and died in prison a year later, in 1986. Mitchell’s arrest and death led to an increase in crime and drug sales in Oakland, as smaller gangs attempted to fill his place in the drug trafficking economy, and fought for that place. It is likely that Mitchell had served as a sort of control, limiting gang activity and interactions.
Mitchell’s 1986 funeral in Oakland involved a massive procession, attended by thousands. The funeral, involving a horse-drawn carriage and 14 Rolls Royce limousines was compared to that of Martin Luther King, Jr. This illustrated the prominence of drug culture at the time, drawing attention to the role Mitchell had played in Oakland, and in the drug economy of the 1980s.