Officials: 120 arrested in largest gang bust in NYC history
NEW YORK --More than a hundred people have been arrested in the Bronx in what officials believe to be the largest gang takedown in New York City history,reports CBS New York.
Authorities are expected to announce charges Wednesday against 120 alleged members and associates of two rival street gangs, the Big Money Bosses and 2 Fly YGz. The gangs are accused of violently feuding with each other while trafficking drugs and weapons.
Police began raids early Wednesday morning with help from federal authorities. Sources told CBS New York about 1,000 law enforcement officers took part in the massive sweep.
The early morning raids included a massive show of force. Officers used helicopters and armored trucks to track down suspects and round them up, CBS New York reports.
Officials said the rival gangs have terrorized residents for years along White Plains Road in the northern section of the borough.
Charges against the suspects include murder, robbery, drug trafficking and other crimes.
In charging documents obtained by CBS News, prosecutors identified Nico Burrell and Douglas McClarty as leaders of the Big Money Bosses, Laquan Parrish and Aaron Rodriguez as leaders of 2 Fly YGz and Preston Pasley as a leader of Sex Money Murder, a Bloods-affiliated gang that supported 2 Fly YGz.
The Big Money Bosses are accused in the murder of Sadie Mitchell, a 92-year-old woman who was killed in her home by a stray bullet in 2009, as well as the murders in 2014 and 2015 of teens Keshon Porterfield and Jeffrey Delmore.
The 2 Fly YGz are blamed in the 2012 stabbing death of 17-year-old Alexander Walters and shooting death of 17-year-old Donville Simpson.