With this latest bust, police allege that the gang used some of the proceeds to purchase firearms through straw purchasers that were used to help them protect their drug trade. One of the blocks where the purported drug dealing was taking place was at the center of a major undercover police investigation in the middle 1990s that led to the conviction on federal drug and racketeering charges of more than a dozen members of the Traveling Vice Lords, including the gang’s then-leader, Andrew “Bay-Bay” Patterson. The major bust should also mark a bit of déjà vu for law enforcement in Chicago who have been dealing with the scourge of gang violence for decades. Police said the map for where ambulances are being summoned for drug overdoses is almost an identical overlay to areas most impacted by gun violence - underscoring that the gang-fueled drug trade is driving the violence in Chicago. “We often talk about the gun violence that disproportionately affects young African-American men,” said Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson “When we dig a little deeper we can see that this violence is mainly being fueled by the sale of illegal drugs.”ĭuring the planning for this week’s raid, CPD analysts reviewed 2016 ambulance calls for opioid overdoses in the city. more than 45 years ago, according to a federal complaint. One of those arrested, an alleged supplier of heroin and cocaine to the gang, is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who had been ordered to be deported from the U.S. The others swept up in the alleged conspiracy, most of whom authorities allege are tied to the gang, will face state charges. Police are also looking for at least 18 more suspects they say were part of the drug conspiracy. Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service investigation that began more than a year ago - comes as the city is dealing with a surge in gun violence that has tallied nearly 900 murders since the beginning of 2016.Īmong those arrested are 11 men facing federal drug trafficking, drug conspiracy, gun running and other charges for their parts in operating open-air drug markets in the city controlled by a violent faction of the Traveling Vice Lords street gang known as the “Cali Boys,” authorities said. The massive roundup - the culmination of a Chicago Police, U.S. CHICAGO - Law enforcement authorities say they arrested more than three dozen suspects late Thursday and early Friday morning in raids targeting the heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine trade on Chicago’s West Side- an area hard hit by a level of violence that the city has not seen since the 1990s.Īuthorities are hopeful that the sting, dubbed "Operation Travel Shut Down," will help undercut high-profile gang and drug suppliers suspected of fueling the city’s interminable gun violence.
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