School and police officials say they reflect the grim reality that it is becoming more common for gangs to look for new members outside schools or wherever young people assemble. "Basically, these guys were recruiting middle school students into joining a violent drug-dealing gang," said Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, of the first incident. "They stated to one youngster that it's cool to be a Latin King because you get to carry guns." David and Tomas Reyes were spotted on Monday approaching students walking home from school, Delaney said. Riding in a green Volkswagen with chrome wheels, the pair approached groups of students and boasted about what they could gain by joining their gang, he said.
*** Seven Fairfax County, VA teenagers belonging to the Latino gang Sur 13 have been arrested for attempting to pick up children from a middle school for membership.
*** The feds busted a heroin trafficking ring tied to 11 street gangs in Los Angeles, CA that "resulted in 88 arrests, and the seizure of more $1.5 million in assets, to include vehicles and cash, 2 firearms, and more than 20 kilograms of heroin with a street value of $2.5 million dollars":
The organization imported black tar heroin from Mexico, and then distributed the heroin to at least six different distribution networks operating in East Los Angeles, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The heroin would then be distributed for sale in baggies sold to 11 street gangs in the Los Angeles area. The organization is believed to be responsible for distributing approximately 15 kilograms of heroin per week, generating a profit of approximately $2 million dollars per month.
The drug ring operated for over two decades, and was allegedly run by Ramon Narciso Morales-Mendoza and his family members from the Oaxacan tribe:
For two decades, a Oaxacan Indian family allegedly ran an international drug ring that smuggled heroin through Tijuana into Southern California, generating millions of dollars in profit that returned to Mexico. And authorities said they did it undeterred by keeping it simple. Family members lived humbly, with underlings distributing the drugs in open view at parking lots of 99 Cents stores, Food 4 Less supermarkets, Home Depots and McDonald's restaurants. At these bustling locations, men inconspicuously trading brown shopping bags filled with heroin didn't seem out of place. They communicated using an Indian language from their home village -- initially stumping investigators who listened to their exchanges on wiretaps. * * * The arrest offers a window into how heroin from Mexico makes its way north and into Southern California -- relying largely on a network strengthened by family ties. It shows "how heroin initially controlled by [Mexican] drug cartels makes its way into the U.S., into the hands of gang members across the Los Angeles region," U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien said. * * * The federal indictment of the Mendoza clan showed that the group shunned the ostentatious trappings normally associated with high-end drug traffickers. The clan allegedly used Ford, Honda and Pontiac vehicles. They stored the heroin in the cars -- hiding it in engine blocks, gas tanks, steering columns, air vents and dashboards. Despite the hefty drug profits, family members lived in modest homes in suburbs such as Montebello.
In East LA the drugs were moved by members of 11 gangs, "including the Brown Brotherhood, White Fence, City Terrace, Marina Maravilla, East L.A. Rife, Barrio Locos and the Hick Boys."
*** In New Jersey "authorities have broken up a multi-county drug ring they say supplied 1,000 bricks of herion a week though an unusual partnership among members of street gangs in Newark and Asbury Park":
During the investigation, police seized 30,700 glassine bags of heroin packaged in bricks (50 bags per brick), 125 grams of cocaine and 1½ pounds of marijuana, he said. They also confiscated a loaded AK-47 assault weapon, 11 handguns, a stun gun, 12 luxury cars, three bullet-proof vests and $72,000 in cash. Sixteen of those arrested Monday and Tuesday were either members of the Bloods, the Crips or the Five Percenters street gangs.
*** An Orange County, CA judge has slapped a civil injunction on dozens of alleged members of the Orange Varrio Cypress gang prohibiting them from associating together:
The court order is the sixth signed in Orange County in the last 2½ years. The last injunction was issued against a rival gang, also in Orange, in July. Law enforcement authorities served 108 alleged gang members with injunction notices starting last month, and 55 of them were named in Friday’s injunction. The judge's order demarcates a 3.8-square-mile area, mostly in downtown Orange west of the 55 Freeway, in which alleged gang members are not allowed to congregate together, drink or use drugs in public, or wear gang attire. They must also obey a curfew and other laws or face increased penalties.
*** In St. Paul, MN the city has filed for a civil injunction "against the Sureño 13 gang and 10 of its alleged 'most-active and influential' members as a way to prevent violence during Cinco de Mayo Fiesta":
The gang was responsible for a drive-by shooting and numerous assaults and incidents of disorderly conduct during last year's Cinco de Mayo festival, according to court documents. Although Cinco de Mayo is the first event being tested for an injunction, it's not the only target. There is likely to be a broader push by the city to curtail gang activity.
*** In Denver, CO the city police have arrested 8 alleged members of the Evil Minded Soldiers, and they will be prosecuted on organized crime charges involving drug trafficking and weapons possession:
At an afternoon news conference, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said he will use the state's organized-crime law to prosecute the gang members. He said weapons and narcotics charges also would be filed. "This is an organized gang," Morrissey said. "Like any other organized-crime group, they were using guns and drugs to generate the money they needed to keep the organization going."
Two additional suspects, including Stephen Oliver, remain at large. Suspect Photos
*** In Austin, TX law enforcement is reporting a surge in gang membership and gang crimes:
The number of crimes linked to gang members in Austin jumped 65 percent from 2007 to 2008 - a period that also saw an increase in the overall number of documented gang members on city streets, according to new police statistics. * * * Assistant Police Chief David Carter said he thinks the increase could be due to increased interest in drug trafficking, particularly as drugs supplies are more restricted and controlled by cartels along the U.S.-Mexico border. He said it is possible that gangs could be loosely connected to such cartels.
State Senator John Carona stated that "the gang threat in Texas is the greatest homeland security issue facing us right now": "It's a huge problem. Gangs today are more organized, more violent then ever before. They pose a real threat."
*** Law enforcement in South Florida reports a resurgence of gangs:
"We have seen a resurgence in active recruiting by national gangs in South Florida that, combined with a significant increase in violence arising out of small neighborhood drug-based gangs, has led to an explosion of violence in the last few years," said Frank Ledee, head of the Miami Dade State Attorney's Gang Unit. Ledee estimates the number of active gangs in South Florida at between 160 and 200, with a total membership well in excess of 2,000. And violence is often the currency they trade in for respect – or at least what passes for respect in gang life. * * * National gangs, like the Bloods, the Crips, the Latin Kings and the Imperial Gangsters, divide up territory and compete with local gangs, such as the YLOS in Hialeah or the Haitian gangs in Miami. One thing all these gangs share is that they have no trouble recruiting new members, and it often starts in the schools.
*** Six alleged members of the Bloods-affiliated Westside Street Mobb in Seattle, WA "have been charged with running a prostitution ring involving at least 13 girls and young women":
*** In Las Vegas, NV a young man has died from head injuries he suffered during an initiation beating to join Vicky's Town which involved him "being punched, kicked and stomped in the face and head for 13 seconds." Three of the assailants have been charged with murder, and police are searching for a fourth named Dwayne "Smokey" Romero: "Romero is Hispanic, about 6' and 180 pounds," and "has VST TRESA tatooed on his back and VICKYS TOWN tattooed on the back of his head."
*** The spat between the C-Block and M.O.P., otherwise known as Members of Pine, continues in Providence, RI "that has left one teenager dead and another hospitalized with a serious gunshot to the stomach this month":
Tracking the groups is more challenging than keeping tabs on traditional gangs in the city, such as the Hanover Boyz, Young Bloods or Laos Pride. He said the traditional gangs have command structures, initiation rights and organized activities. C-Block and M.O.P. are relatively new and their members come and go. They also frequently change names and form splinter groups. For example, M.O.P. also has been known as Los Cristianos, Norwich Ave. Boys, Croyland, Lockwood and Gain Gr$$n. Most of them are neighborhood kids with little to do. They peddle drugs, commit robberies and hang around the street.
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