Thread: Mexican gangs recruit in Colorado

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'Colorado has been targeted'
Violent street gangs grow in state viewed as a lucrative market


By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News
January 20, 2007


Gangs from Southern California and Mexico have moved into Colorado, recruiting members in virtually every corner of the state and trafficking in drugs and guns on a scale that would astonish most of the state's residents, top law enforcement officials said.
The gangs are more sophisticated and more violent than the "homegrown" street gangs that have operated here for decades, officials said.

And for many of those gangs, business has been good.

Federal agents are seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from suspected gang members every few days, said Troy Eid, the U.S. attorney for Colorado. One recent seizure topped $1 million.

"Colorado has been targeted . . . as a lucrative market," Eid said. "It's quite clear gang activity is serious and on the rise."

Exactly how much gang activity has increased can't be said for certain. While the Colorado Bureau of Investigation keeps a gang database that puts the number of confirmed gang members statewide at 12,741, the data do not include every city, and they have been compiled for only two years.

But anecdotally, several law enforcement leaders said there's no question that Colorado faces a serious problem.

"The volume has changed," said Aurora police Lt. Jim Welton, a 20-year veteran who heads the Metro Gang Task Force, which includes members from 14 local, state and federal agencies. "There are more gang members, and the level of violence has increased dramatically."

Gang crime in Denver is drawing increased attention because of the Jan. 1 murder of Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams, who police believe was shot to death by someone in a car registered to a known gang leader.

Much of the activity is fueled by Mexican drug cartels, which ship drugs north on I-25 to Colorado, Welton said. Gang members then take over distribution.

That's what authorities say was happening in Greeley, the site of one of the largest federal drug busts last year. The Drug Enforcement Agency indicted 21 people and seized guns, $59,000 in cash, 1.1 kilograms of cocaine and more than 45 pounds of high-quality "ice" methamphetamine - a quantity described by DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Sweetin as "monstrous."

With a population of about 88,000, Greeley is home to an estimated 500 gang members, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck said. Most are Hispanic and are heavily influenced by associations with California gangsters, he said.

"The Denver gang members and Greeley gang members interact, but when someone from California comes here, it's like Elvis has come to town," Buck said.

Witnesses on Internet

Colorado is prime real estate, in large part, because of interstates 25 and 70 - major routes for trafficking guns, drugs and humans. Gangs are also drawn to the growing population and a higher-than-average percent of high school dropouts - a key demographic for potential gang members, Eid said.

Shortly after he took office last year, Eid held meetings to discuss the gang situation with local, state and federal law enforcement officials in five cities: Denver, Greeley, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Durango. While officials in some cities were more willing than others to admit a problem, Eid said he left the meetings convinced that all five communities are facing similar issues.

It's not a problem that is restricted to Colorado alone.

Nationwide, the FBI estimates there are 800,000 gang members in about 30,000 violent street, motorcycle and prison gangs.

In its 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, the most recent report available, the FBI also noted a growing connection between gangs in Mexico, as well as Russian organized crime and Asian criminal groups.

The report also said this new breed of gangs is becoming more savvy, using computers and other technology to communicate and avoid detection by police.

Gang members may use prepaid cell phones, for example, to avoid police wiretaps. On the Internet, some have posted names and contact information for federal agents or witnesses who may testify against gangs.

Gangs a top priority

The U.S. Department of Justice, at the direction of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has made targeting gangs a top priority, creating several task forces to focus on international gangs and gangs that operate across state borders.

One of those task forces is dedicated to tracking and dismantling a gang known as MS-13. The gang, known as one of the most violent in the nation, originated in California and includes many members who are immigrants from Central America. The FBI believes MS-13 operates in 30 states, including Colorado.

The FBI has begun collecting fingerprints from criminal databases in Mexico and Central America, so it may compare the prints when crimes are committed here.

Federal prosecutors are also using many of the tools they used to prosecute the mob, such as conspiracy and racketeering charges.

"This is a significant issue," Eid said. "There is an awful lot of money rifling through this community. . . . The culprits will do virtually anything to protect that income stream."

Getting rid of gangs

The Metro Gang Task Force targets gangs for dismantling then works cases using investigators from 14 federal, state and local agencies. Since it formed amid the so-called "Summer of Violence" in 1993, the task force has made more than 2,000 arrests.

• In 2006

64 felony arrests

14 weapons seized

More than $1 million in cash seized

8 gangs targeted

• In 2005

91 felony arrests

16 weapons seized

4 meth labs destroyed

11 gangs targeted

• In 2004

101 felony arrests

34 weapons seized, plus drugs and money

5 gangs targetedSource: Fbi, Metro Gang Task Force



Staff writer Charlie Brennan contributed to this report.

Scary stuff. They need to get a handle on this before it is too late.

They need to do something and quick before it becomes a third world state. I seen it here in Miami and it is getting worse.

I don't think they want to get a handle on it , sounds like theres alot of big money in it and we all know they put $$$$$$ before our safty, UNLESS they hear us loud and clear we want these prople off our streets!!!! here's another place we need that big (ROAR)

I think that the one African American guy on my floor in my condo complex was correct when he said: "That there are people out there that want power and with the Hispanic vote they will get it. That is why they tirn a blind eye to all this nonsense. That power is more important to them than us citizens." As I have said in the past everything will change when a politician, rich businessman or celebrity becomes a victim of an illegal. Sad but true.