The nickname Freeway came from Ross owning properties along Los Angeles' Interstate 110, also known as the Harbor Freeway According to an October 2013 "Esquire" magazine article, "Between 1982 and 1989, federal prosecutors estimated, Ross bought and resold several metric tons of cocaine," with Ross' gross revenue claimed to be more than $900 million (equivalent to $2.7 billion in ) and profits of almost $300 million ($ million in ). During the height of his drug dealing, Ross was said to have sold "$3 million in one day." According to the "East Bay Times", "In the course of his rise, prosecutors estimate that Ross exported several tons of cocaine to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and made more than $500 million between 1983 and 1984."