The Cornbread Mafia was a group of outlaw cannabis growers based in Kentucky who were busted in the 1980s, when 70 Kentuckians were arrested with 200 tons of cannabis on 30 farms in 10 states between 1985 and 1989.
Everyone knows about California’s part in American cannabis history, but Kentucky’s role long predates the West Coast’s. In fact, Kentucky’s hemp industry thrived for over 150 years, from the first documented hemp crop in 1775 until it was made illegal by Congress in 1937.
After cannabis prohibition went into effect, Kentucky’s hemp tradition was almost forgotten. Except some farmers would not go quietly. For decades, federal law enforcement agencies assumed that the vast majority of the cannabis in America was smuggled from Latin America or Asia. Little did they know, massive amounts of cannabis were being grown right under their noses in Kentucky.
These growers, who would later be known as the “Cornbread Mafia,” worked under a low profile, building a giant cannabis syndicate that stretched from coast to coast. When police in Kentucky began flying helicopters to spot their illegal crops, the Cornbread Mafia moved to other states in the Midwest.
In the mid-1980’s, federal officials discovered a pattern that they found troubling: a string of giant cannabis operations busted in Midwestern states, where everyone arrested was from one place – Marion County, Kentucky.
By 1989, federal law enforcement had arrested 70 Kentuckians. But of these 70 men, zero agreed to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for a lesser sentence. Without a witness, prosecutors could not charge them under organized crime laws.
Despite the loyalty these Kentucky men had for each other, prosecutors had one last card to play. They hosted a press conference in the summer of 1989 and laid out their case to the media. During this press conference, a prosecutor used the term “Cornbread Mafia” for the first time – which instantly made these Kentucky cannabis growers infamous, as the news of their exploits stretched around the globe.
