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A rap mogul who helped launch Jay-Z‘s career was busted Friday with 42 other people when the feds rolled up a drug ring that controlled the marijuana market in New York City.

Dubbed operation “Green Venom,” the feds rousted Kareem “Biggs” Burke – co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records with Shawn (Jay-Z) Carter and Damon Dash – from his home in North BergenN.J.

They also arrested the fearsome head of the narcotics network, Geovanny (Manny) Rodriguez Perez, and Matthew Stang, an ad executive for pot-promoting High Times magazine, and seized $1 million in drug profits and 177 pounds of pot.

“This isn’t just a group that controlled one block, one neighborhood,” said Jim Hayes special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“They dominated the wholesale marijuana market in New York for 20 years.”

Burke has been part of the ring since 1992 and was spotted loading a bag of pot into his Toyota SUV, court papers state.

Hayes said the feds have had their eyes on Perez, aka “Shorty,” for years and that he had a simple business model.

“They grow the pot, they ship it up north, they sell pot, and send the money back to South Florida,” Hayes said.

And Perez was also not afraid to use muscle.

“He has either wiped out or threatened to wipe out competitors,” said Hayes.

Perez trucked the pot up from Florida “in tractor trailers with cover loads of legitimate merchandize,” the criminal complaint states.

They also trucked the drug money back south or used couriers who took “commercial flights with large amounts of cash hidden in their luggage.”

Stang was also a long-time member of the ring, according to the criminal complaint, which revealed that he was called “Magazine Guy” and that his middle name is Woodstock.

High Times editor Dan Skye said “he was an ad guy” for the magazine and has not heard from him since his arrest.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/10/15/2010-10-15_rap_mogul_kareem_biggs_burke_who_helped_launch_jayzs_career_arrested_in_ny_marij.html#ixzz12Ss0JYBR