Stringer Bell

Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second-in-command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment. Bell attends economics classes at Baltimore City Community College and maintains a personal library, including a copy of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. He attempts to legitimize the Barksdale Organization and insulate himself from direct criminality through money laundering and investments in housing development, aided through his buying of influence from politicians.