MIAMI (WSVN) - Federal and local officials announced, Wednesday, that Miami-Dade residents who were allegedly a part of a violent Miami criminal enterprise have been arrested.
According to members of the FBI, ATF, DEA Miami Police and Miami-Dade Police, 10 of the 14 subjects apprehended were arrested in conjunction with criminal activity run in Miami. For almost 17 years, officials said, those who were arrested based their operations primarily out of the South Gwen Cherry Housing Complex in Allapattah.
Four individuals, however, remain at large, according to police. “I know that there are four at large,” said Miami-Dade Police Director Juan Perez. “Heed the warning and turn yourselves in because we’re not going to stop looking for you. All of these agencies behind me are looking for you.”
The indictment report stated that some of these 14 subjects conspired with each other and others to engage in racketeering that involved murders, threats of murder, armed robberies, narcotics trafficking and the use of firearms in violent crimes and drug trafficking.
The task force that helped bring down these alleged criminals began in May 2015 and is called the Operation Northern Light Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Officials said the task force is led by the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, ATF, and DEA, with participation from Miami-Dade and Miami police.
According to officials, the charges issued to those arrested include:
- racketeering conspiracy
- conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute narcotics, including crack cocaine
- commercial robberies
- use of firearms in furtherance of robberies and narcotics trafficking
“The enterprise has recruited juveniles to participate in the scheme and to promote the enterprise’s goals,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg in a news conference. “Members of the enterprise also used social media to advance their goals, to brag about their accomplishments and wreak havoc on certain communities.”
Miami Police Chief Rodolfo Llanes said in a news release, “The Miami Police Department would like to thank its partners in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, ATF, DEA, and the Miami-Dade Police Department for their outstanding assistance in making this operation a success. By working together, we send a clear message to those individuals who blight our neighborhoods with violence that they will be brought to justice.”
If those arrested are convicted, officials said they may face minimum terms from 10 years to life, with maximum terms of life imprisonment.
Several of those arrested are expected to go in front of a judge, Wednesday afternoon.
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