The Jheri Curls were a Dominican gang which was active in the Washington Heights, Manhattan neighborhood of New York City in the early 1990s. Taking their moniker, and coiffures, from the Jheri curl hairstyle that was of waning popularity in the United States during the time, the gang ran a major cocaine trafficking operation in upper Manhattan which was ultimately based out of an apartment complex on W. 157th St. and Riverside Drive. The gang was led by Rafael Martinez along with his brothers Lorenzo, Julian, Daniel, and Cesar. The Jheri Curls pulled in millions of dollars per year in cocaine sales (allowing the Martinez brothers to live comfortably in Queens), and gang leader Rafael was able to secrete some of the money in properties in the Dominican Republic.