Troopers, 17 Other
Agencies Team up on
Gang Members
Multi-agency effort takes down leaders of
Bloods
street gang in Operation Dawg Pound
Police and Law Enforcement News
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:20 a.m.
West Trenton, N.J. – (NJSP Press
Release) In the second operation under a new intelligence-led
policing initiative directed against street gangs, federal, state
and local agencies today arrested numerous members of the violent
Bloods street gang in a cooperative strike. Operation Dawg Pound
targeted the gang’s presence in central New Jersey—predominantly in
Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean counties.
More than two-dozen
people have been charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit
murder, racketeering, distribution of CDS, and transfer of weapons.
The announcement by
Attorney General Stuart Rabner, State Police Superintendent Colonel
Rick Fuentes, and Criminal Justice Director Gregory Paw and Gerard
P. McAleer, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in
Charge took place in the newly opened Regional Operations
Intelligence Center (ROIC) at State Police headquarters.
“Today’s operation
reflects a new, aggressive law enforcement model that we’re using to
take down the most violent street gangs,” said Attorney General
Rabner. “It’s a model that starts with effective intelligence
gathering by the State Police and other agencies, and brings in
state prosecutors at the outset, to ensure that we dismantle the
hierarchy of these gangs with solid cases. We will continue to work
with our many law enforcement partners to target gangs terrorizing
our communities.”
“Gang members, awoke
this morning to the terrifying sounds of their impending arrests. A
new day has come and street gangs have been targeted as an untenable
threat to public safety and peace in our state,” said Colonel Rick
Fuentes. “Gang members, you bring this upon yourselves. The degree
to which your crimes degrade the quality of life in New Jersey
determines the amount of law enforcement attention your gang
receives, and starts the countdown to its demise.”
“Today’s street gangs
reflect a higher level of organization and a wider range of
activity, including drug and gun trafficking, money laundering and
the use of violence to protect and expand their illegal operations,”
said Director Paw. “Fortunately, the more these gang members do, the
more we can charge them with. We’re doing our best to throw the book
at them.”
Gerard P. McAleer, Special Agent in
Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New Jersey
Division stated, “We will continue to provide federal resources to
our state and local law enforcement partners in order to dismantle
and eliminate violent gangs and their drug trafficking
organizations. The cooperation between agencies was paramount to the
success of this criminal organization being eliminated from our
community.”
“Street gangs have unfortunately
learned the power of networking, but through a robust intelligence
sharing effort assisted by the ROIC, police agencies are retaking
the initiative and retaking the streets in the name of law and
order,” said Lt. Colonel Frank Rodgers, Deputy Superintendent of
Investigations.
In July 2006,
Operation Nine Connect targeted the Nine-Trey set of the Bloods, and
provided a rich reward in intelligence, which led to other
investigations, including Operation Dawg Pound. The concept of
intelligence-led policing requires analysts to create threat
assessments based on both reported crimes and intelligence sources.
In 2005, Trenton had
its highest murder rate ever with 31 deaths. Nineteen of those were
attributed to gang violence; the majority of those were related to
the Bloods. Furthermore, over a five-day period in the spring of
2006, Bloods were believed to be responsible for 15 Trenton
shootings. More recently, a spate of shootings in the Lakewood area
were also attributed to gang activity, and specifically to the
Bloods.
Today’s arrests were
effectuated by tactical teams of law enforcement officers backed up
by helicopter surveillance, police canines, undercover detectives,
and intelligence resources located at the ROIC. At the time of this
writing, approximately two-dozen people are currently arrested and
in custody and five more wanted on warrants. Teams executed
additional search warrants. Approximately three pounds of powder
cocaine, 300 grams of crack cocaine, distribution quantities of
heroin, $100,000 in currency and nine weapons including a loaded
Mac-11 sub-machine gun with a silencer have been seized this
morning. Numerous spin-off investigations are expected to result
from the intelligence gathered through today’s raids.
Bail for all of the
gang-related targets ranges from $250,000 to $1,000,000.
Operation Dawg Pound
developed over eight months of investigations involving 18 agencies
including:
- New Jersey State Police
- N.J. Division of Criminal
Justice
- U.S. Attorney’s Office
- U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration
- Federal Bureau of
Investigation
- Mercer County Prosecutor’s
Office
- Mercer County Sheriff’s Office
- Monmouth County Prosecutor’s
Office
- Ocean County Prosecutor’s
Office
- Asbury Park Police Department
- Dover Township Police
Department
- Ewing Police Department
- Freehold Boro Police
Department
- Jackson Township Police
Department
- Lakewood Police Department
- Long Branch Police Department
- Trenton Police Department
Police and Law Enforcement News
Friday, February 2, 2007 12:20 a.m.
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