Almost 700 federal agents and New York City Police Department officers were involved in the pre-dawn raids in the Bronx on Wednesday (27 April), which were part of an ongoing effort to make the city’s public housing projects safer for an estimated 400,000 residents, amid a surge of violence, Bharara said.
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The arrests were made between Tuesday and Wednesday morning on charges of murder and selling drugs, and it is considered to be the biggest blow against organized crime in the city’s recent history.
The gang members are believed to be affiliated with the 2Fly YGz and the Big Money Bosses, rival gangs who have been embroiled in a bloody turf war.
Police hailed the largest gang “take-down” in NY history on Wednesday after a major operation snared 120 people linked to two street gangs that terrorised the city and parts of the US.
The New York Daily News says as the gang members were walking handcuffed into the 50th precinct, many seemed unfazed at the charges leveled against them.
Sources said Martin got spooked when police and U.S. Marshals went to a sixth-floor apartment to serve an arrest warrant for one of the members of the gang.
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said: “As alleged, these individuals engaged in open-air drug sales near homes and schools in the Bronx, pushing poison onto our streets”.
Bharara said they “allegedly wreaked havoc on the streets of the Northern Bronx for years by committing countless acts of violence against rival gang members and innocents alike”.
A major gang bust in the Bronx resulted in the arrest of more than 100 people, according to reports.
Both gangs used social media to promote, protect and grow their organisations, including boasting about their exploits on YouTube, Mr Bharara said.
The prosecutor said his office’s civil division was looking at whether the New York City Housing Authority was providing housing that is “decent, safe, sanitary, and in good fix”, which is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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Among those charged was a drug dealer already serving state prison time for killing a 92-year-old woman with a stray bullet, authorities said. Investigators said he admitted during questioning that he fired a pistol during a fight between gangs.
