page_title: Barksdale Organization
section_title: Season three
hierarchical_section_title: Barksdale Organization / Soldiers / Season three
caption_attribution_description: English: The Barksdale Organization (Season Three).
context_page_description: The Barksdale Organization is a fictional drug-dealing gang on the television series The Wire. Many of the characters featured in season one of The Wire belong to this organization. Season 1 largely deals with the Baltimore Police Department setting up a Major Crimes Unit to investigate the Barksdale Organization, led by Avon Barksdale who is portrayed as the most powerful drug kingpin in Baltimore.
  The gang's criminal activities include heroin and cocaine dealing, homicides, and money laundering. Avon Barksdale's power in west Baltimore was established some time before the events of season 1. The Barksdale Organization started a turf war for the city's largest public housing project. When they won the war and got the prized Franklin Terrace Towers, they had the best drug territory in the city and dominated the illicit heroin trade in west Baltimore. The show starts sometime after these events.
  The Baltimore Police Department as a whole is portrayed as underfunded and apathetic. While the Major Crime Unit is able to arrest a number of people in the Barksdale Organization, including Avon, they lack the resources to build a strong enough case to permanently cripple the organization.
caption: The Barksdale Organization (Season Three)
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