More than 100 alleged gang members have been charged in what authorities are calling the biggest gang bust in New York City history. Authorities made 87 arrests in the early morning raids, the New York Daily News reports.
About 700 law enforcement officials from the NYPD, Homeland Security, and other agencies stormed dozens of locations at and around the Eastchester Gardens housing complex in the Bronx early this morning (April 27), said officials, arresting suspects with street names like “Boogy Boo,” “Yung Bhippy” and “Sama Lama.”
The charges, which include racketeering, drug and gun offenses, focus on alleged members of two rival Bronx-based street gangs, “2Fly YGz” and “Big Money Bosses.” Controlling the drug trade around Eastchester Gardens, members of 2Fly sold weed, crack, coke and pills, and kept guns in a playground or in nearby apartments to protect themselves from other gangs, according to the indictments. BMB operated “an open-air drug spot” nearby on White Plains Road and also kept guns close to protect their territory, say authorities.
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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara released a statement saying the gangs have “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.” Bharara also detailed some victims of the gangs’ alleged crimes, one who was “a 15-year-old child stabbed and left to die in the street,” and another who was “a 92-year-old woman shot by a stray bullet in her own home.”
While attempting to escape the raids, 21-year-old Geovanni Martin fell from a sixth-story apartment window and later died. Martin wasn’t actually listed on any of the warrants, though he was wanted in connection to several robberies.
It’s unknown as of press time if any of the alleged gang members have legal representation.
