In an impressive display of law-enforcement cooperation, federal and local cops took a good chunk out of a violent drug gang recently, busting 43 members and fellow travelers.
The raids were said to recover “substantial quantities” of illegal drugs and guns, and were the first large sweeps in recent years. “We haven’t had one to this extent before,” said Denver Deputy Police Chief Mike Battista. “We had 40 officers. That’s the most we’ve had to my memory.”
After a two-year investigation, the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force-Metro Gang Unit also executed 55 search warrants on residences and vehicles in Denver, Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Brighton, Westminster and Aurora. The raids against the GKI street gang were carried out by police and sheriffs’ officers and federal agents. The large number of venues is indicative of how extensive GKI’s operations had become and how mobile gang members now are
Twenty-three defendants were indicted on federal charges, 12 more were named in federal criminal complaints and 15 were charged with state violations. Drugs seized included marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy.
Battista said the raids send the message that “if you’re going to be involved in a violent-type gang, we take notice as metro-area [law enforcement] works with all our partners in the federal and state government and take down the gang if we can.”
The efforts will be ongoing. Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said, “According to U.S. attorney Bill Leone, it is a priority for the Department of Justice to address violent street gangs and the negative impact they have on our communities.”
Federal laws that make it a felony to use a firearm in the furtherance of drug trafficking provide an additional weapon against the gangs because it adds to their prison time.
Gangs like the GKI – for Gallant Knights Insane – routinely use crack cocaine as means of maintaining their power, Dorschner noted.
We hope that the synergy this cooperative effort created continues and finally breaks the power of the street gangs and rids the metro area of this scourge.
