Post by CRAZY LACY on Mar 3, 2007 1:18:58 GMT -5
Cocaine ring dismantled
Six-month-long investigation culminates when 32 gang members go to jail in Thursday morning sweep.
Katherine Rosenberg March 02, 2007
VICTORVILLE - Sheriff's deputies Thursday morning brought down a major cocaine trafficking ring that was previously responsible for bringing $200,000 worth of cocaine to the Victor Valley each week.
"We're already hearing that if you want cocaine, you can't get it here anymore," said Detective Jeremy Martinez of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Victorville station.
Authorities spent the day rounding up 32 of their 42 targets, most of them 456 Piru Blood gang members, who have each been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine by the District Attorney's office.
On Thursday officials even orchestrated arrests of connected drug dealers as far away as Michigan.
Sergeants, detectives and deputies from the Victorville station conducted the sixmonth-long probe into the web of dealers, suppliers and street level sales people through "undisclosed investigation methods" - equivalent to the level of an FBI investigation. In turn they've found that they will be keeping roughly two kilos a week from entering the area.
And by taking down the upper echelon of the ring, officials are hopeful that the organization will not be able to rebuild itself anytime soon.
"This was the dismantling of an entire criminal organization. To replace everyone that went to jail, we're talking another year before it's even close to this magnitude," said Sgt. Robert Boyd.
The investigation began in August with a single tip from a confidential informant.
"They provided information on a guy named K.O. or Knock Out, and our station knew that it was Devon Hayes. He was responsible for pound-quantites of sales in Victorville, so he became the focal point of our investigation," Boyd said.
From there, authorities were able to determine who his supplier was and who he sold to. Also, because they established this group of individuals as a gang, or criminal organization, the District Attorney's office was able to charge each person with conspiracy, even if they were never found to be in possession of cocaine.
"You take down eight major ounce- and pound-level dealers and by the time it trickles down, you've affected 300 people," said Detective Sgt. Bob Hughes. "All that's left at that point are the addicts, not the people selling it for a profit."
While serving their search and ar rest war rants early Thursday morning, officials came across one residence where they found over $10,000 in cash and another home in Los Angeles where a machine gun and a semi-automatic handgun were recovered, Hughes said.
Ironically, little to no cocaine was found, and that's because deputies have been making arrests in recent months to get the cocaine off the streets. As a result, 12 of their targets were in custody before the sweep even began.
Their main target Gerald Hawkins is believed to have moved his family to Arizona, but he was one of the few targets not apprehended on Thursday. Authorities will continue to search for him as he was one of the main suppliers.
"Hawkins has ties to a Maryland FBI investigation as well, which involves gangs and conspiracy to distribute and involves three homicides," Boyd said.
Despite the success of the investigation, law enforcement personnel are also aware that the impact they've made is limited. A lack of manpower to dedicate to the project stopped the investigation from going any further.
"The reality is that on a case like this, K.O. was making five deals at a time. This is probably just 10 percent of the potential of the case," Boyd said.
The case led the team, comprised of the detective and gang units at the Victorville station, through several humorous moments as well, Hughes said.
One of the arrestees, Kevin Northrup, 40, was a superintendent on a local construction site last year, officials said.
"He's out here from Michigan working at a job and he's got a cocaine habit and he hooked up with some gang members while he was out here. On his last night he threw a party and two gang members stole his car," Hughes said. "He reported it stolen and went back to Michigan. Well, we recovered his car and when he got it back he said the crook left a cell phone in the car, so we just asked him for his address and said we'd take care of it."
On Thursday they sent a team to the address he provided in Michigan and arrested him on the same charges as the rest of the locals involved in the cocaine ring.
The case also led them to arrest Scot Breithaupt, 49, dubbed the "OM of BMX." He was one of the originators of BMX racing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ;D
"The case also has ties to a professional NBA player, but that investigation is still ongoing," Boyd said.
During the raid, a building at the county fairgrounds was converted into a temporary booking and processing center. From that location, several sheriff's department officials discussed the success of the investigation.
"If you're planning on coming up here and committing crimes, change your plan. Don't come here," said Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department.
Captain Mark Taylor of the Victorville station added to that, saying that the work was made possible in part through the generosity of the City Council, who has provided funding "to attack street terrorism and gang activity."
This story first broke in an e-mail news alert at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday. Sign up for free breaking news bulletins at VVDailyPress.com.
Six-month-long investigation culminates when 32 gang members go to jail in Thursday morning sweep.
Katherine Rosenberg March 02, 2007
VICTORVILLE - Sheriff's deputies Thursday morning brought down a major cocaine trafficking ring that was previously responsible for bringing $200,000 worth of cocaine to the Victor Valley each week.
"We're already hearing that if you want cocaine, you can't get it here anymore," said Detective Jeremy Martinez of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Victorville station.
Authorities spent the day rounding up 32 of their 42 targets, most of them 456 Piru Blood gang members, who have each been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine by the District Attorney's office.
On Thursday officials even orchestrated arrests of connected drug dealers as far away as Michigan.
Sergeants, detectives and deputies from the Victorville station conducted the sixmonth-long probe into the web of dealers, suppliers and street level sales people through "undisclosed investigation methods" - equivalent to the level of an FBI investigation. In turn they've found that they will be keeping roughly two kilos a week from entering the area.
And by taking down the upper echelon of the ring, officials are hopeful that the organization will not be able to rebuild itself anytime soon.
"This was the dismantling of an entire criminal organization. To replace everyone that went to jail, we're talking another year before it's even close to this magnitude," said Sgt. Robert Boyd.
The investigation began in August with a single tip from a confidential informant.
"They provided information on a guy named K.O. or Knock Out, and our station knew that it was Devon Hayes. He was responsible for pound-quantites of sales in Victorville, so he became the focal point of our investigation," Boyd said.
From there, authorities were able to determine who his supplier was and who he sold to. Also, because they established this group of individuals as a gang, or criminal organization, the District Attorney's office was able to charge each person with conspiracy, even if they were never found to be in possession of cocaine.
"You take down eight major ounce- and pound-level dealers and by the time it trickles down, you've affected 300 people," said Detective Sgt. Bob Hughes. "All that's left at that point are the addicts, not the people selling it for a profit."
While serving their search and ar rest war rants early Thursday morning, officials came across one residence where they found over $10,000 in cash and another home in Los Angeles where a machine gun and a semi-automatic handgun were recovered, Hughes said.
Ironically, little to no cocaine was found, and that's because deputies have been making arrests in recent months to get the cocaine off the streets. As a result, 12 of their targets were in custody before the sweep even began.
Their main target Gerald Hawkins is believed to have moved his family to Arizona, but he was one of the few targets not apprehended on Thursday. Authorities will continue to search for him as he was one of the main suppliers.
"Hawkins has ties to a Maryland FBI investigation as well, which involves gangs and conspiracy to distribute and involves three homicides," Boyd said.
Despite the success of the investigation, law enforcement personnel are also aware that the impact they've made is limited. A lack of manpower to dedicate to the project stopped the investigation from going any further.
"The reality is that on a case like this, K.O. was making five deals at a time. This is probably just 10 percent of the potential of the case," Boyd said.
The case led the team, comprised of the detective and gang units at the Victorville station, through several humorous moments as well, Hughes said.
One of the arrestees, Kevin Northrup, 40, was a superintendent on a local construction site last year, officials said.
"He's out here from Michigan working at a job and he's got a cocaine habit and he hooked up with some gang members while he was out here. On his last night he threw a party and two gang members stole his car," Hughes said. "He reported it stolen and went back to Michigan. Well, we recovered his car and when he got it back he said the crook left a cell phone in the car, so we just asked him for his address and said we'd take care of it."
On Thursday they sent a team to the address he provided in Michigan and arrested him on the same charges as the rest of the locals involved in the cocaine ring.
The case also led them to arrest Scot Breithaupt, 49, dubbed the "OM of BMX." He was one of the originators of BMX racing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ;D
"The case also has ties to a professional NBA player, but that investigation is still ongoing," Boyd said.
During the raid, a building at the county fairgrounds was converted into a temporary booking and processing center. From that location, several sheriff's department officials discussed the success of the investigation.
"If you're planning on coming up here and committing crimes, change your plan. Don't come here," said Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department.
Captain Mark Taylor of the Victorville station added to that, saying that the work was made possible in part through the generosity of the City Council, who has provided funding "to attack street terrorism and gang activity."
This story first broke in an e-mail news alert at 12:45 p.m. on Thursday. Sign up for free breaking news bulletins at VVDailyPress.com.