Thread: More than 50 held in Phoenix during 2-day drug crackdown

More than 50 held in Phoenix during 2-day drug crackdown

by Michael Ferraresi - Aug. 29, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .

Neighborhood tipsters helped police develop information over the past few months to arrest more than 50 people Friday as part of a two-day drug-enforcement crackdown near Metrocenter in northwest Phoenix.

The 87 indictments for drugs, auto thefts and other property crimes came on the heels of two other major crime-suppression announcements.

Earlier this week, Phoenix police and the FBI announced more than 60 arrests and 100 indictments of gang associates in connection to drug operations that reached to the East Coast.

The arrests Friday were the result of a three-month investigation by Neighborhood Enforcement Team officers prompted by resident complaints about "tweakers," drugs and property crime at three apartment complexes near 35th Avenue and Bethany Home Road.

Phoenix police Cmdr. Benny Pina, who oversees the northeast Phoenix Cactus Park Precinct, said his officers worked primarily in plainclothes to arrest drug suspects on the street as part of Operation Eradication. He and other officials credited community groups for flagging police with concerns about burglaries, neighborhood blight and other drug-related activity in the area.

"They know the information we relay to them is accurate and correct, and they follow up on it," said Sherry Dudek, a leader in the Cactus Park Community Alliance. "Whether the tweakers are out at night or during the day, it's a constant thing."

After noticing a 6 percent spike in violent crime, Pina said police began looking closer at an area south of Peoria Avenue and north of Northern Avenue between 35th and 27th avenues.

Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris announced violent crime is down 16 percent since the first half of 2008. This week's raids involved efforts from Maricopa County agencies and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon credited residents who "instinctively, personally" flagged police about crime. "The city is watching where crime is, where crime has been subdued or eliminated," Gordon said. "We always do that. That's what we've been about."

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... s0829.html

Investigation leads to more than 60 gang-related arrests

by Michael Ferraresi -
Aug. 26, 2009 09:11 PM
The Arizona Republic .

More than 100 people connected to Phoenix streets gangs face criminal charges following an investigation that revealed drug-running activities stretching from Arizona to the East Coast.

A task force led by Phoenix police and the FBI announced they arrested 63 of the suspects early Wednesday. Two others turned themselves in, and nearly 40 people are outstanding, authorities said.

The far-reaching criminal conspiracy case compiled by the FBI's Violent Street Gang Task Force received its nickname, Operation Trident, because investigators initially focused on three street gangs. Since January, investigators unraveled drug operations that supplied the local market and as far away as New York and Delaware.
Investigators recently seized 500 pounds of marijuana, 1,000 ecstasy pills, and nearly $250,000 in cash from drug proceeds, according to authorities. The gangs were also involved in dealing crack cocaine and PCP.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas joined Phoenix Public Safety Manager Jack Harris, Mayor Phil Gordon, and investigators from several law enforcement agencies in heralding the arrests as one additional step toward freeing neighborhoods of gang violence. Thomas said a grand jury returned the lengthy series of indictments in the conspiracy case on Tuesday.

The street gang task force included efforts by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and several other federal, state and local agencies.

Phoenix police Lt. Charlie Consolian, who oversees gang investigations, said investigators served search warrants at 14 homes in the Valley - finding luxury vehicles and flat-screen TVs among the items funded by the drug trade.

"Sixty-three out of 104 is actually a pretty good batting average for a one-day takedown," said Consolian, whose gang unit helped arrest 127 of more than 180 suspects indicted on hundreds of felony counts ranging from conspiracy to drug-related charges in a similar investigation earlier this year.

The earlier operation involved south Phoenix gang members forging government checks to fund the drug trade. Unlike the dozens of gang associates involved in that case, those arrested Wednesday were far violent, Consolian said.

"The majority have been in south and west Phoenix, which is unfortunate, but those communities have been under the control of these groups for some time," he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoe ... i0827.html