Drugs (drugs racket) | Walkthrough Mafia III Guide
Last update: 03 November 2016
This is one of the two rackets in the French Ward district and you can start to weaken it after completing the story mission "Kill Tony Derazio", when you murder Tony in his apartment at The Royal hotel. The main objective of the described mission is of course to take down the enemy lieutenant, this time it is Doc Gaston. The racket itself can be damaged in various ways, all of which have been described below.
Important - Before you commit to taking down this racket it is worth to install wiretaps in all of the boxes around the French Ward district. Make sure to be extra careful, as one of the boxes (shown in the picture above) is located in the police station and while attempting to approach it directly, Lincoln would be attacked. This problem is best solved by contacting the Police Dispatcher, but to be guaranteed immunity for two minutes you will need to sacrifice one marker. Alternatively, you can eliminate all nearby policemen (begin by the guard post near the front gate or by the entry to the garage), but in order to avoid detection and enemy reinforcements you would have to use a silenced weapon flawlessly.
- Meeting with Big Jim McCormick
- Interrogating the pushers
- Tracking down shipments to the hideout
- Murdering street dealers
- Sinking the boats
- Murdering Gaston's enforcers
- Initiating a confrontation with Gaston
Meeting with Big Jim McCormick
Detective Big Jim McCormick is located in a warehouse by the water. Talk to him about possible ways of weakening Gaston's racket.
Interrogating the pushers
The locations of three pushers have been marked on the map of the district, and to complete this mission you have to interrogate two of them (you can choose which at your will). This objective is not in any way unique when compared to the interrogations that you have conducted previously. After reaching the target destination you can lure the pusher away from the group, sneak up to him from behind or run him down, if he decides to escape. You can either recruit or kill each informant after the interrogation.
Tracking down shipments to the hideout
This objective is unlocked after interrogating one of the pimps. It is quite unusual, as it is not tied to any particular point on the map. While travelling around the French Ward district you have to look out for an opportunity to follow a shipment of drug money. The vehicles which transport the cash are red sports cars and an example of one such encounter has been shown in the picture above.
Do not attack the hostile vehicle, as you will not weaken the enemy racket this way. You have to follow the shipments to their hideout instead, which is where a large amount of drug money is being stored.
While following the transports, you have to make sure that you remain undetected and that you do not intimidate Gaston's people. Maintain a safe distance from the hostile vehicle, but remember that other actions can also attract a lot of attention - do not crash into other cars or elements of the environment, make sure not to run over any pedestrians and try to limit situations, in which someone will honk after Lincoln performs a dangerous manoeuvre on the road or quickly overtakes another car.
After you reach the hideout step out of your car. You can sneak into the place in which the cash is stored or you can eliminate all nearby enemies in direct combat. Stealing the drug money will weaken the racket by at least 10.000 dollars (the mission is repeatable - you can find other red sports cars on the streets).
Important - While completing this task or other objectives of the mission you can keep an eye out for crates that you can destroy (e.g. with a shotgun or a Molotov cocktail). Each such action will further weaken Gaston's racket.
Murdering street dealers
The drug dealers can be found in numerous locations around the French Ward district. After reaching a particular dealer you can get rid of them in various ways, e.g. by shooting them with a firearm or simply throwing a grenade at them. The death of each dealer will weaken the drug racket by only 1.000 dollars, but you can also search for bags of cash in places where the dealers conducted trade.
Sinking the boats
This objective can be unlocked by interrogating one of the pushers. In the French Ward district there are two boats, which are used to transport drugs. The first one is moored in the south-east part of the district, and the second one by the northern estate. In both cases it is Lincoln's task to simply sink the boats, eliminating the nearby enemies is completely optional. If you only care about finishing the quest, look around for red canisters near each of the boats, as they can be shot (preferably from a long distance) which will cause them to explode (if needed you can also use other explosives e.g. grenades). The destruction of each boat will weaken the drug racket by 10.000 dollars.
Murdering Gaston's enforcers
There is only one enforcer for you to eliminate - Lester Terriot. You can approach his location by sneaking up from the side of the alleyway or by opening the door of a nearby building. Make sure to remain extra careful, as there are numerous civilians and at least one sentry in the vicinity.
Initiating a confrontation with Gaston
After the drug racket has been weakened sufficiently (actions connected to Gaston - red points on the map) return to McCormick. After having a conversation with him, go to the Big Mouth jazz club, where the enemy boss has his headquarters. Before you start infiltrating the club, it is recommended that you use a marker to pay for the services of the network operator, in order to block any calls and prevent a police intervention. This is quite crucial, as while you are making your way through the club, you will be eliminating consecutive enemies in public places, therefore some of the terrified civilians may try to call the police.
When you infiltrate the jazz club, look for a staircase that is leading to a lower level of the building. Starting from this place it would be best to eliminate all hostile gangsters without being detected, you should use the Intel View mode to help you locate the enemies (the same goes for pinpointing Gaston's location).
Continue sneaking through the lower levels of the jazz club. The gate shown in the picture above leads directly to the boss's location and you will have to deal with multiple enemies in this area. After going through the gate head to the room above, where Gaston is located. You can attack him from the vicinity of the entry to the room or surprise him when he turns in another direction. When you apprehend Gaston, decide whether to kill or recruit him.
Important - At the very end you will have to decide who will be in charge of this racket - Cassandra, Burke or Vito. Each of these characters will offer you a different bonus in exchange for control over the racket. Be aware, that this choice can later be adjusted, as after taking back the entire French Ward district, it will be necessary to determine which of the underbosses will have full control over its territory (and therefore all of the rackets in the district).