Thread: Quad States officials discuss illegals, drugs and gangs

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Gangs, drugs top list of woes
Representatives at the Quad-State Conference voice their concerns.

By Dennis Cox / Journal Staff Writer
POSTED: August 15, 2008
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WINCHESTER - Government officials from Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania met Thursday to discuss issues affecting all four states, such as drugs and gang violence.

The 21st Quad-State Legislative Conference brought together state legislators and guest speakers representing counties along the Interstate 81. The main focus of discussion was the growing issues of immigration, gang violence and illegal narcotics and how to reduce the problems for the region.

Some leaders thought there was a strong connection between illegal immigration, drugs and violent crimes, as well as the sale of illegal firearms.

"Those go hand in hand," said Allen Sibert of the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug Task Force. "They all fit together."

Officials said the issue has grown because drug traffickers have found it more difficult to do business along the Interstate 95 corridor, which stretches from Florida through Washington, D.C., New York and into Boston. As a result, traffickers have migrated west along various major highways including Interstate 70 toward I-81, where they are less likely to be caught.

"It's a world that a lot of citizens don't know and don't see," said West Virginia Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, on Thursday.

Some of the big problem areas in the region are Hagerstown and Winchester because of their more direct routes to Washington, D.C. And there have been signs of the gang MS-13 in the Eastern Panhandle, according to Jim Spears, cabinet secretary of West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety and the state's Homeland Security advisor.

Many officials were in agreement with Sibert when he said, "It's better to be proactive instead of reactive," when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants and handling drug issues before they grows to a point where they cannot be controlled.

"Why not get them out of our country before they commit the crimes?" Sibert said.

The legislators wanted to know if the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could deport immigrants before they commit violent crimes and use taxpayer money on housing inmates in area detention centers. Legislators brought up the idea of making it a felony to be in the country without correct documentation, to allow ICE to deport illegal aliens more easily.

Sibert said that fake driver's licenses and other forms of identification have been made illegally and are becoming prominent among immigrants so they can avoid detection.

Virginia Delegate Joe May brought up concerns about law enforcement profiling against those who are in the county legally.

"We're going to struggle a bit in that area," May said.

Virginia Delegate Beverley Sherwood agreed, and said, "It's a very sensitive area."

In response to the concerns, Sibert said officers look at individuals' criminal activity, and he said he was aware of the possibility of profiling problems.

West Virginia Delegate Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, asked what kind of effects gang activity in prisons had on gang members who are not incarcerated.

Sibert said inmates are more likely to join a gang in jail for protection and affiliation purposes. He said that can lead to problems when a person gets out of prison and is then affiliated with a gang. He added that a high number of violent crimes are committed because of drug and/or gang activity.

Spears said that the growing trend of gang violence across the country is showing in the Panhandle. He added that Martinsburg had the highest rate of violent crimes in the state over the last two years, although the average for the area is below the national average.

Members of the Maryland State and the Washington County, Md., police departments said illegal drug sales are popular because of the large amounts of money that can be made as opposed to working a normal day job.

The officers said the number of members in the gang the "Bloods" has increased in the Hagerstown area. They also said the gang Dead Man Inc., or DMI, a Maryland-originated gang, has grown in size considerably.

Maryland officers said gangs, such as the Bloods, are starting to recruit youth as young as the age of 12 and 13 to be members of the gang to handle drug trades. A juvenile caught selling drugs would not have to serve the same punishment as an adult, which means the juvenile could be back selling drugs, while an adult would have to serve jail time.

"What is going on in Hagerstown is scary," Overington said. "We have to plan and prepare for that."

Pennsylvania Representative Dan Moul suggested that more education about drugs and gang activity could "dry up" the market for drug dealers, forcing them out of business.

"It is by far the best solution," Overington said of education of youth about drug violence.

- Staff writer Dennis Cox can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 183, or dcox@journal-news.net

Well, finally! Now let's see if this group will have a chance to testify to the US Congress.

The main focus of discussion was the growing issues of immigration, gang violence and illegal narcotics and how to reduce the problems for the region.

Should this have been Illegal immigration, gang violence and narcotics. It is time for the government to use the words written in law "illegal alien."

Good thing they are at least talking and admiting the problem.

Gang activity seen in Hagerstown area
By JIM HOOK Senior writer
August 15, 2008

Two kids from Washington County, Md., picture themselves on myspace.com in gang colors.

"They're 14 years old," said Rep. Dan Moul, R-Gettysburg. "They are 14-year olds pointing guns."

Moul and other state legislators from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia listened Thursday as law enforcement officials described increasing gang activity in the quad-state area.

Trooper First Class John Monarek said he policed Los Angeles gangs for 10 years before joining the Maryland State Police gang unit.

"I was at the epicenter of gangs," Monarek said. "What I saw there you are facing here, whether it's in your cities or rural areas. I've arrested 10- and 11-year-old gang members in California. It was nothing to find a 12-year old with a handgun."

"That blows me out of the water," Moul said after the presentations at the 21st Quad-State Legislative Conference in Winchester, Va.

Moul stressed early education of youngsters about the consequences of drug use and gangs, so "by the time a kid is 12 to 14 they know everything that's going to happen to them if they go down that road."

Police have validated 170 gang members in the Hagerstown, Md., area, according to Todd Dunkle, a detective with the gang unit of the Washington County Narcotics Task Force. Most are members of the Bloods. Other gangs are the Crips and Dead Men Inc. DMI started in Jessup, Md., in 1999 with 3 members and as of November was 500 strong.

In the past two to three months, members in Hagerstown, Md., have begun to openly display their gang colors, Dunkle said. Gang members have been recruiting, or "breeding," 12- and 13-year olds. They initiate a recruit by beating him for about a half minute or longer during a "jump in."
"Most of our violence is gang-on-gang," Dunkle said. "We don't have a lot of gun play. It's for intimidation."

Prison inmates also are recruited for gang membership.

"They're joining gangs to survive in prison," said Monarek, who is based in Baltimore. "What goes on inside dictates what goes on outside."

Prisons in Washington County, Md., house 10,000 inmates.

"We are the second largest release-area in Maryland for gang members," Dunkle said. "They come from all walks of life. The driving force behind everything is money. (Dealing) drugs is an easy way to get money."

A juvenile fits readily into a gang's business. He can get busted for delivering crack cocaine and be back on the street the next day. An adult would face a 4-year prison sentence.

Gang economics is an easy sell: $1,000 a day for selling crack, or working a legitimate job for $300 to $400 a week.

A shortage of manpower is greatest difficulty policing gang activities, according to Maryland and West Virginia state troopers.

Maryland's gang enforcement unit has eight troopers. The Washington County, Md., gang unit has two detectives.

Gang activity has not ventured too far from Hagerstown, Md. up and down the I-81 corridor to Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"While we have prosecuted known members of national and regional gangs, we have not found that organized gangs are working in Franklin County," said Jeremiah Zook, Franklin County assistant district attorney.

Just 200 of the 6,000 inmates in West Virginia prisons are gang members, according to West Virginia Secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety James W. Spears. Another 100 gang members are in county jails. The state's violent crime rate is half that across the nation.

But the United Blood Nation has said: "West Virginia is open for business."

Drugs are traded in West Virginia for guns to be used in New Jersey and New York, Spears said. Martinsburg on the I-81 corridor has the highest crime rate among the eight urban areas in West Virginia.

Migratory workers are attracted to construction and orchard jobs in West Virginia, he said. "They don't know the language and become targets for MS-13."

MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, is a brutal gang that has its roots in El Salvador.

The gang has met two or three times in West Virginia, according to First Sgt. E.D. Burnett, West Virginia State Police. During one meeting at the Potomac River in Jefferson County, 20 went to jail and the rest left town.

The East Coast wing of the Pagan motorcycle gang held a mandatory meeting in West Virginia, according to Washington County (Md.) Detective Ryan Shifflet.

"(Gangs) almost view West Virginia as a safe haven," Spears said.

Dr. Jorge Ribas, president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said gang activity began 20 years ago in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and has followed the interstate highways to more rural areas.

Trooper Monarek agreed with Rep. Moul that communities will never be able to "arrest their way out of" gangs and drugs.

School truancy is a neglected issue, Ribas said. Gangs welcome the opportunity to recruit kids who fail to attend school.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_10219673

Identification and DEPORTATION is the simple and most cost-effective solution to the criminal illegal alien gang problem.

That certainly would reduce a significant amount of the problem pretty quickly....as for our own home-grown violent thugs....the time of spending public tax dollars to coddle young thugs with basketball programs, "after-school activities" and most of the other failed initiatives run by third party contractors have miserably failed.....gang membership is at an all time high. Obviously it's time for a different approach.

WHY mess around anymore? Just shoot them! Deport them! But don't give them anymore room to solicit drugs and violence. If we have a war on drugs THEN TAKE OFF THE GLOVES!

Drugs are traded in West Virginia for guns to be used in New Jersey and New York, Spears said. Martinsburg on the I-81 corridor has the highest crime rate among the eight urban areas in West Virginia.

Gang activity seen in Hagerstown area

I live in Maryland. Hagerstown is about an hour away from me. It used to be a little sleepy town. I guess there is NO ESCAPE from illegal aliens or their gangs.

ILLEGAL ALIENS AND GANG MEMBERS ARE DESTROYING ALL OF AMERICA! GET RID OF THEM! ITS CHEAPER TO DEPORT THAN TO POLICE THESE ANIMALS OR KEEP THEM IN PRISONS.