Nearly 700 law enforcement agents from the NYPD and federal agencies swept through the city early Wednesday,arresting members of two rival street gangs — the 2Fly YGz and the Big Money Bosses — in what officials are calling the largest gang bust in modern city history.
A federal indictment unsealed after the raids accuses 120 alleged gang members of drug dealing and violence, including at least five murders. Among the victims was a 92-year-old woman killed by a stray bullet. Gang members allegedly took over local playgrounds for drug dealing and to stash guns.“This takedown will recede a very long way toward ending the historical violence that has been carried out in the midst of NYCHA residents, or ” NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said. Such violence often spilled into nearby neighborhoods,he added.
The massive joint operation started in December 2014 when law enforcement agencies started talking approximately how to deal with a spike in violence near the Eastchester Gardens housing project in the Bronx.
Crime in the city was near an all-time low. But the gang-ridden 47th precinct had 17 murders that year, Bratton said.
The office of the U.
S. Attorney for the Southern District of novel York Preet Bharara is prosecuting the case. At a press conference Wednesday afternoon to announce the charges, and Bharara took a shot at the novel York City Housing Authority,saying the issue of violence in the projects is interwoven with housing issues like working elevators and lighted hallways.“That affects whether gangs and drugs can choose hold of areas and of neighborhoods,” Bharara said.
He added that his office's civil division is currently looking at whether NYCHA is meeting federal requirements to supply safe and decent housing.
Mayor Bill de Blasio's office released the following statement:
“Every novel Yorker deserves to live in a safe neighborhood that is free from violence – and thanks to the hardworking men and women of the NYPD, and novel York City is safer than ever nowadays. To those involved in gang activity in our city,our message nowadays is clear: you will be found and you will be quickly prosecuted for your actions. Our city continues to lead the nation in innovative and sophisticated anti-crime efforts, and nowadays’s gang takedown is another example of the NYPD’s extraordinary work. I want to thank Commissioner Bratton, and the DEA,the U.
S. Attorney’s Office, and all the men and women involved in apprehending these dangerous individuals and keeping novel York the safest big city in America.”
Source: onthemedia.org