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http://www.nbc5.com/news/3328632/detail.ht...994&dppid=65194
Authorities Crack Gang, Drug Market In Morning Raid
NBC5's Carol Marin Rides With Officers In West Side Bust
POSTED: 4:21 pm CDT May 20, 2004
UPDATED: 8:52 pm CDT May 20, 2004
CHICAGO -- Early Thursday morning, hundreds of federal agents and Chicago police, armed with arrest and search warrants, arrested dozens of members of a street gang that ran a drug market on street corners and in bu
ldings on the west side.
In a follow-up to an exclusive NBC5 report which aired Wednesday night, Carol Marin witnessed Thursday's raid.
Just after dawn, 200 agents and officers went after 103
r
of
he Mafia Insane Vice Lords. At 5:30 a.m. hundreds of Chicago cops and federal agents gathered at a police fac
ility on the near west side.
The gang, which operates primarily on Chicago's west side, according to authorities, calls itself the Mafia because it tries to operate that way, selling dope, charging street tax, hiding its assests, and staying below the radar.
Shortly before 6 a.m. the law enforcement team was on the road, spreading throughout the city and suburbs and bringing a rude awakening to alleged members of the gang.
Two suspects were arrested at an apartment building at the corner of Adams and Lavergne.
"I ain't in no gang," one of the men told NBC5.
"Not in any gang?" Marin asked. He said no.
She pressed him for more.
"Did they tell you why you were being arrested?"
"No, ma'am," he said. "I don't even know. It's true."
Marin said this was the second m
ajo
r gang bus
t in two weeks. Last week nearly 50 alleged members of the Black Disciples were targeted on the southside. Thursday's raid was on the west side.
"(Do you) know anything about the Mafia Insane
Vice Lords?" Marin asked one of the suspects.
"Hell no. I ain't no mother-xxxxxxx Mafia. You got me mixed up, man," he replied.
"I was raised up around gangs. I live in Chicago," he added when asked if he had any relationship to the gang.
Police say the Mafia deals heavily in heroin, a fact that came as no surprise to west side resident James Bady, who manages an apartment building Marin watched police enter in the morning raid.
Bady told Marin that dope dealing has been going on in his neighborhood for years.
"It ain't j
ust started," he said.
Body said police were after Walter Small, and Marin witnessed Small's arrest Thursday morning.
"Mr. Small, have they told you why you've
been a
rrested?" she
asked.
Small shook his head and said nothing.
At police headquarters, authorities explained why over 100 alleged members of this faction of the Vice Lords were being sought.
"The Chicago Police Department dismantles open-air drug markets because they are hubs for viole
nce," said Police Chief Phil Cline.
Marin said that 31 alleged gang members were in federal custody Thursday night, 26 in state custody, 50 open-air drug markets have been hit on the west side, and the leader of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords and his second in command were in jail.
Sixty members of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords were arrested on federal and state charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said 47 open-ai
r drug markets in the Harrison, Austin and Grand Central districts had been dismantled.
"It's getting less comfortable being a gang king in Chicago these days," F
itzgerald s
aid at a Thursday news con
ference.
Among those arrested was Troy Martin (pictured, left), 49, of Bolingbrook and Chicago who was believed to be the gang's leader and founder, according to the news release.
Other gang members were still being sought, the release said.
The charges accused the gang members of running a drug sale conspir
acy that enticed potential buyers by providing free samples on street corners, the U.S. Attorney's Office release stated.
The defendants were accused of setting up a drug market using "street taxes" and violence to eliminate competition, the release stated. The gang members sold heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in open-air drug markets, netting $3,000 to $5,000 in sales per day, according to the release.
Seized in the sw
eep were a hand grenade, five pistols, two rifles, including an assault weapon, a bulletproof vest, several cars and about $37,000 in cash, the release said.
Autho
rities said the
heat will continue on Chicago'
;s street gang members.
"This is not the last time you'll see this line-up before you," Cline said, referring to the law enforcement leaders who surrounded him at the podium. "We'll be up here again."
http://www.nbc5.com/news/3328632/detail.ht...994&dppid=65194
Authorities Crack Gang, Drug Market In Morning Raid
NBC5's Carol Marin Rides With Officers In West Side Bust
POSTED: 4:21 pm CDT May 20, 2004
UPDATED: 8:52 pm CDT May 20, 2004
CHICAGO -- Early Thursday morning, hundreds of federal agents and Chicago police, armed with arrest and search warrants, arrested dozens of members of a street gang that ran a drug market on street corners and in bu
ldings on the west side.
In a follow-up to an exclusive NBC5 report which aired Wednesday night, Carol Marin witnessed Thursday's raid.
Just after dawn, 200 agents and officers went after 103
r
of
he Mafia Insane Vice Lords. At 5:30 a.m. hundreds of Chicago cops and federal agents gathered at a police fac
ility on the near west side.
The gang, which operates primarily on Chicago's west side, according to authorities, calls itself the Mafia because it tries to operate that way, selling dope, charging street tax, hiding its assests, and staying below the radar.
Shortly before 6 a.m. the law enforcement team was on the road, spreading throughout the city and suburbs and bringing a rude awakening to alleged members of the gang.
Two suspects were arrested at an apartment building at the corner of Adams and Lavergne.
"I ain't in no gang," one of the men told NBC5.
"Not in any gang?" Marin asked. He said no.
She pressed him for more.
"Did they tell you why you were being arrested?"
"No, ma'am," he said. "I don't even know. It's true."
Marin said this was the second m
ajo
r gang bus
t in two weeks. Last week nearly 50 alleged members of the Black Disciples were targeted on the southside. Thursday's raid was on the west side.
"(Do you) know anything about the Mafia Insane
Vice Lords?" Marin asked one of the suspects.
"Hell no. I ain't no mother-xxxxxxx Mafia. You got me mixed up, man," he replied.
"I was raised up around gangs. I live in Chicago," he added when asked if he had any relationship to the gang.
Police say the Mafia deals heavily in heroin, a fact that came as no surprise to west side resident James Bady, who manages an apartment building Marin watched police enter in the morning raid.
Bady told Marin that dope dealing has been going on in his neighborhood for years.
"It ain't j
ust started," he said.
Body said police were after Walter Small, and Marin witnessed Small's arrest Thursday morning.
"Mr. Small, have they told you why you've
been a
rrested?" she
asked.
Small shook his head and said nothing.
At police headquarters, authorities explained why over 100 alleged members of this faction of the Vice Lords were being sought.
"The Chicago Police Department dismantles open-air drug markets because they are hubs for viole
nce," said Police Chief Phil Cline.
Marin said that 31 alleged gang members were in federal custody Thursday night, 26 in state custody, 50 open-air drug markets have been hit on the west side, and the leader of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords and his second in command were in jail.
Sixty members of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords were arrested on federal and state charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said 47 open-ai
r drug markets in the Harrison, Austin and Grand Central districts had been dismantled.
"It's getting less comfortable being a gang king in Chicago these days," F
itzgerald s
aid at a Thursday news con
ference.
Among those arrested was Troy Martin (pictured, left), 49, of Bolingbrook and Chicago who was believed to be the gang's leader and founder, according to the news release.
Other gang members were still being sought, the release said.
The charges accused the gang members of running a drug sale conspir
acy that enticed potential buyers by providing free samples on street corners, the U.S. Attorney's Office release stated.
The defendants were accused of setting up a drug market using "street taxes" and violence to eliminate competition, the release stated. The gang members sold heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana in open-air drug markets, netting $3,000 to $5,000 in sales per day, according to the release.
Seized in the sw
eep were a hand grenade, five pistols, two rifles, including an assault weapon, a bulletproof vest, several cars and about $37,000 in cash, the release said.
Autho
rities said the
heat will continue on Chicago'
;s street gang members.
"This is not the last time you'll see this line-up before you," Cline said, referring to the law enforcement leaders who surrounded him at the podium. "We'll be up here again."