Written by Capping an 11-month investigation aimed at breaking up gang crime in Pontiac, leaders of federal and Oakland County police agencies said Thursday they were charging 74 members of the Almighty Latin King Nation and New World Order gangs with drug violations.
Officials said 32 suspects were arrested Wednesday while police sought the rest in an effort to “stamp out what was becoming a cancer in Pontiac,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a news conference at his headquarters in Pontiac.
Most suspects are in their teens and 20s, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said.
Thursday’s arrests might not stop the gang elsewhere, “but right here in Oakland County, I think this puts a huge dent in this gang,” she said.
Investigators said members of the groups often worked in tandem as they sought to control drug trafficking in Pontiac and surrounding communities.
Identifying the gang members was sometimes easy because many of them like to be noticed, officials said.
“They had information about themselves on Facebook and MySpace,” McQuade said.
“They’re wearing their colors, tagging buildings, wearing tattoos,” Bouchard said — referring to members dressing in gang attire and writing gang symbols with spray paint.
The investigation was sparked when Pontiac Police Chief Val Gross asked the FBI to help him combat escalating gang violence, FBI Special Agent in Charge Andrew Arena said. The result was to create the Oakland County Violent Gangs Task Force in January 2009, he said.
The task force, besides having FBI and federal drug, Homeland Security and other agents, also used police from Auburn Hills, Bloomfield Township, Pontiac and the Michigan State Police.
“We’re seeing gang recruitment even in the middle schools” and in Waterford and Auburn Hills, as well as Pontiac, Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said.
