Formed in 1974 as a 60-man operation, the GD has matured into a centralized criminal organization with nearly 30,000 members in Chicago and spreading into at least 35 other States with several thousand more members. With an estimated annual revenue in excess of $100 million from Chicagoland narcotics sales and street tax (its total income from various front organizations, social service scams, and other illegal income sources is difficult to assess), the gang is one of Chicago's most successful, albeit illegal, home-grown corporations in the modern American underground economy. In providing information on the GD, this article addresses recent Federal indictments and ongoing investigation, thumbnail sketches of gang leaders, an organization chart, a historical overview of the gang constitution, political and social service fronts, the use of religion, and media strategies. The article concludes with an assessment of the gang's current power in the context of recent Federal indictments. Also included are excerpts from a yet-to-be- released study by the National Gang Crime Research Center, prepared from a survey of Atlanta law-enforcement officials, including data on their beliefs about the gang's intent and ability to menace the upcoming Atlanta Olympic Games. 21 references and 9 footnotes