In 1927, upon taking control of the International Brotherhood of Painters Flatbush-based Local 102 from Jacob "The Bum" Wellner in Brooklyn, he clashed with Arnold Rothstein, who had been hired by an employers association under the "John T. Nolan Agency", headed by Orgen and Rothstein bodyguards Eddie and Jack "Legs" Diamond to break up union activities after workers went on strike.
On November 19, he and associate Benjamin Weinstein were both injured in a drive-by shooting while standing at the corner of Mount Eden and Townsend Avenues.
Assigned a police guard of fifteen detectives, he was eventually moved from Fordham Hospital to Morrisania Court for his arraignment for technical assault, which was later dismissed.
[citation needed] He would eventually become involved in Buchalter's drug trafficking operations, with shipments reportedly worth $10 million, bringing heroin and morphine into the United States from China with Jacob "Yasha" Katzenberg.
[citation needed] His body was later found dumped in the East River; he had been stabbed to death by Murder, Inc. on orders from Buchalter, who suspected Holtz had been skimming from the narcotics operation.