Cypress is the unofficial name of a crew founded by former members of the Leanbois and Cleanbois.
General Description
Cypress is an organized crime syndicate that operates out of the Cypress Flats region of the City of Los Santos founded by former members of the Leanbois and Cleanbois. They have no official name, but have been dubbed "Cypress" for their prominence in the region and have accepted the moniker over time.
Cypress indulges in every crime the city has to offer, with extensive operations including divisions that have successfully pulled off the most difficult of heists, the production of drugs such as weed and moonshine, and numerous foot soldiers to push these drugs on the street and carry out any orders from the higher-ups with unwavering loyalty.
The rampant drug trade and violence in Cypress controlled Cypress Flats has made them the prime target of Den "Zel" Sheisty and his TRT, but although many arrests have been made, the UPD has yet to have any success eliminating the core of their operations, and drugs continue to flow unabated through Cypress Flats.
Crew Structure
The crew's structure is heavily influenced by the hierarchical structures found in American Mafias, but with a key distinction that instead of being lead by a singular dictatorial head, Cypress is lead by a democratic council of five.
Ranks
Dons: The highest rank in the crew, up to five can possess this title at a time. The deciding factor in crew decisions, they will try to come to a consensus and will sometimes puts decisions to a "Don vote" if in disagreement.
OG: A rank given to members at the crew's inception. Consists of any currently Inactive Dons.
Treasurer: In charge of the crew's finances. Reports directly to the Dons.
Specialists: Members with a specific role they excel at. They do not belong to a specific sub-crew and are not expected to contribute more than their specific specialisation when able to.
Captains: Reports to the Dons and Treasurer. Leads a sub-crew consisting of lower ranked members and is responsible for collecting and recording their earnings, which are passed on to the Treasurer.
Enforcers: A captain's second-in-command. They are expected to fulfil a Captain's duties in their absence.
Bought-in Members: People who have been thoroughly vetted before being bought into the crew, and thus entrusted knowledge of some of the crew's inner workings.
Associates: People who regularly work with full members of the crew, but are not yet trusted enough to become a full member themselves. This process will often take many months.
Buying Into The Crew
Once the Dons feel an associate is ready to dedicate themselves to the crew, they call up the associate to start the initiation process. They are instructed to bring $25,000 in cash, dress formally, and meet the Dons for a conversation on a dock in Cypress Flats. The Dons extend an offer to join the crew, typically outlining:
- The crew is the highest priority
- Any personal conflicts stays out of the crew
- The only way to leave the crew is by death
- The crew is not a family
Should the associate accept the invitation, they are Instructed to hand over their $25,000 for their buy in. The Dons order the newly bought member to jump in the water and to hold their breath until they say otherwise.
The new member is then told to rise from the waters, where they will return when they die.
Sub-Crews
Operations-Based Sub-Crews
These sub-crews are small groups set up to manage and efficiently carry out key crew operations.
Captain-Lead Sub-Crews
The Great Cypress Draft saw all recorded Cypress members split into 5 distinct groups each under an assigned Captain. Crews are encouraged to mingle and do jobs together, and are not restricted to any one operation, with the purpose of this separation mostly to create greater structure and streamline earnings reporting. Friendly competition however, is encouraged, with earnings of each crew compared at the end of the week.
Unofficial Sub-Crews
Sub-Crews that have yet to be acknowledged as part of the Cypress structure.
Operations
Weed
The foundation of the organization, Cypress has been growing and selling weed since its inception, and is known for the Scooby-Dooby strain. All of the product is grown at "Azul", a blue house in Harmony that is only known to the upper echelons of the organization, by Captain Teddy Bosco and select members of his crew, who have exclusive growing rights due to their secrecy and dedication since being entrusted with the job. Every Sub-Crew is granted hideout app slots to allow their members to push weed, but by far the greatest pushers are of Cypress are the Albuterol Boys, who have negotiated for themselves nine hideout app slots due to the large amount of weed they push together.
Moonshine
Cypress has an extensive moonshine operation. Their headquarters contains a large farm that allows them to grow food used at Frank's, but also acts as a cover to mask the large amount of moonshine ingredients grown there. The large amount of money to be gained from moonshine has led the Dons to restrict individuals to only contributing to one part of the process however, each member only able to participate in either growing, cooking, or pushing. Although many members are involved in the pipeline, Donnie Jones in particular is known for producing massive quantities of moonshine, up to $1M worth a week by himself, and is one reason why the restriction was put on members involving themselves in multiple parts of the process.
Heists
Cypress are keenly interested in pulling off the greatest heists the city has to offer. With some of the city's best and most experienced heisters; master hackers "cheat code" Yuno Sykk, Marty Banks, and promising newcomer Giovanna "Gigi" Gambino; master drivers Tony Corleone, and Octavio "Octo" Stenberg; and more former Leanbois members, Cypress's main heist crew are naturally some of the first in the city to attempt and succeed at any new score. Having completed all the heists currently in the city, they are awaiting rumours of the next big score.
Heists are not just attempted by the main heist crew though, each sub-crew also has a great interest in heists, so much so that their extensive usage of BUTC has led to its usage having to be restricted and monitored, a task delegated to Marty Banks. The sub-crews are also quite successful, with each having attempted the Maze Bank heist and some even fully completing it.
Roof & Chop
Roof running and chopping cars are enjoyed by many members and can produce a decent income with bonuses from the hideout app. Clark "Flash" Mason in particular spends much of his off time as a captain roof running, one of the only activities that brings him joy after a long day of being belittled by Lang Buddha.
Crew Finances
Members turn in all of their dirty cash to the crew through their captain, and will receive 50% of their earnings back in clean cash. Each sub-crew is required to turn in at least $300k dirty cash from their operations weekly, but earnings almost always well surpass that, with each sub-crew turning in an average of $1M each every week.
Crew treasurer Gigi collects a weekly finance report from each captain and relays it to the Dons. Captains are allowed to submit the information in any format, but have been provided a form (1040-GG) by Gigi to fill in to simply the process if they have no other preferred avenue.
Crew Cuts
Trivia & Notes
- One of the first group to gain access to HQ app.
- First group to gain access to Drug turf.
- One of the first group to attempt and successfully to do a "AC" roof hack and robbery.
- First group to buy a pistol blueprint (GC19x) with the help of Jean Paul's 150 Buttcoins and Cypress Buttcoins.
- First group to rob Ammunition Shipping Containers containing pistols parts and ammo and first to craft a GC19x (Glock 19X). Conducted by Yuno Sykk, Tony Corleone, Luciano DiCenzo, Giovanna "Gigi" Gambino, Lang Buddha, and Octavio Vettel.
- First group to earn a Laser Pointer Attachment blueprint for the GC19x form the double robbery of the Ammunition Shipping Containers. Conducted by Marty Banks, Oscar Buhster, Larry Knox, and a guest Jean Paul.
- Third group to do the Laundromat mini Heist and earned the yellow USB $LAUGHTER and purple USB $MAGIC.
- First group to obtain and turn in all USBs by Yuno Sykk and first to see the gifted item and a probable hint for the next heist.
- Second group to successfully open the Maze Bank vault door and obtain the XTR 9090 Ti GPU blueprint.
- First group to attempt the Art Asylum Heist conducted by Yuno Sykk, Luciano DiCenzo, Giovanna "Gigi" Gambino, Lang Buddha, Larry Knox and Marty Banks