Thread: Drugs fuel Aurora gangs

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Drugs fuel Aurora gangs
Crime Commission says gangs are branching out to other criminal enterprises, but Aurora police say ...

By Matt Hanley
Staff Writer

AURORA — Many of the stories about the recently released Chicago Crime Commission's comprehensive gang survey focus on street criminals moving out of the inner city and into suburban areas. But in towns like Aurora, those reports were hardly breaking news.

There is a larger warning, though, in the 272-page report, which details how street gangs have shown signs of becoming more sophisticated criminal enterprises, engaging in mortgage fraud, human trafficking and even electoral politics.

Anecdotally, the study points to a $80 million mortgage fraud perpetuated by the Vice Lords and $70 million Black Disciple fraud schemes as examples of new territories for gangs known to use drugs for their financial stability.

In an effort to gain more power and protection from seemingly legitimate enterprises, some gangs have tried to expand beyond narcotics.

However, Aurora police say they have not seen much effort to move beyond cocaine sales, still the biggest funding mechanism for local street gangs.

"We haven't seen that," said Lt. Ray Parks, head of Aurora's gang unit. "That's not the fuel that runs the engine in the gangs in this area. It's still dope."

The most sophisticated schemes Parks has seen in Aurora are money-laundering operations run through stores. According to Parks, police have monitored stores they believe gang members might be using to hide money from the IRS.

"The fact is, dope brings in a lot of money," he said. "They have to find a way to legitimize that cash."

Working with the federal government has helped Aurora keep track of those operations. The feds also have helped track Sureno 13, a gang made up of mostly Mexican immigrants with a reputation for extreme violence.

Kate Kirby, vice president of the Crime Commission and the primary author of the study, said many police agencies fear Sureno 13's ties to Mexican organized crime could lead to human trafficking, including selling Mexican citizens into prostitution or cheap labor.

Last month, 14 illegal immigrants with ties to Sureno 13 were arrested in Aurora. Still, Parks says that gang has not made much of an impact in the Fox Valley.

"There are factions here — it's nothing new," he said. "Every once in a while, they try to make inroads into the gang culture, but don't get very far."

In 1992, when a leader of the Black Gangster Disciples created the 21st Century Voice of Total Empowerment (V.O.T.E.) as a local political organization, Aurora waited for similar political organizations to spring up — but they never did.

In Chicago, however, gangs have moved closer to electoral process. In 1994, a Black Gangster Disciple enforcer and member of 21st Century V.O.T.E. was selected to meet with President Bill Clinton for a discussion on urban issues.

"At the meeting, (he) told the president he was there on behalf of Better Growth and Development organization (BGD), a group that shares their acronym with the Black Gangster Disciples," said Jim Wagner, president of the Crime Commission.

Aurora has seen a significant drop in shootings from this time last year, and many people in the department are optimistic it is a sign of turning the corner.

"We've been dealing aggressively with gangs for the past 20 years," Parks said. "The bottom line is, we know there is a problem, and we're working on it."

06/24/06

Well Mr Vicente Bush. Your myopic and idiotic policies have brought us to where foreign illegal alien gangs control American cities and terrorize American citizens, acting with impunity with your's and the Senate's blessings. You are so concerned about terrorism half a world away but continue to refuse the existence of terror in our own backyard perpetrated by your "honest and hard working" Latino brothers and sisters in MS-13, Latin Kings and other "wonderful" organizations that commit murder, rape, kidnapping, robbery, molestation of children and pets, harassment of citizens, burglary, arson, drug dealing and any other number of crimes. When are you going to pull your presidential anterior out of your presidential posterior and finally show some backbone and the willingness to uphold the oath you took but have forsaken long ago to protect the welfare and safety of the American people?