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Posted by: kwflatbed




May 16, 2008 4:00 pm

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) Neighborhoods in Springfield and Holyoke were the scene of raids by the FBI and local police Friday. The target were members of a notorious street gang known for trafficking in drugs and guns.

The charges were announced Friday morning at the federal building in downtown Springfield. Fourteen people were indicted on federal charges, and another 23 were indicted on state charges, of trafficking in guns and drugs.

Police and FBI agents raided an apartment and took alleged gang members and their associates into custody. "Bunch of people get out of a van, do the tuck and roll. They came in busted down the door and took this guy in his boxers," said Carlos Hardman of Springfield.

Later in the day, federal officials announced the arrests and showed off the cocaine, heroin and guns they'd seized during a two year long investigation.

More specifically over the last year the FBI gang task force successfully made purchases of crack cocaine and firearms from drug dealers who were either hard core La Familia gang members or who had affiliations with La Familia, said Paul Smith of the U.S. Attorney's office in Springfield.

The law enforcers say the gang was behind many violent incidents and singled out a shoot out in Holyoke in April of last year, between members of La Familia and the rival Latin Kings gang. "And the focus of the FBI task force is to deal with the violence and as those guns vividly display the type of individuals we're dealing with," said District Attorney William Bennett.



http://www.wwlp.com/Global/story.asp?S=8337157

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Posted by: kwflatbed

List of those arrested in gang sweep

by The Republican Newsroom Friday May 16, 2008, 7:14 PM


The following are those arrested today in an FBI sweep and the charges against them:

CHARGED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT:
Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and aiding and abetting:
-Maria Marquez, 33, 527 S. Bridge St., Holyoke
-Sarah Supernaw, 23, 28 Clinton Ave., Holyoke
-Smileen "Chino Weeno" Matos, 32, 93 Oak Grove Ave., Springfield
-Isaac "Velvi" Torres, 23, 60 Hampshire St., Holyoke
-John Harley, 40, 64 Hampshire St., Holyoke
Conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine:
-Raul "Knowledge" Pantoja, 27, 2141 Main St., Apt. 6, Springfield
-Naomi "Little Naomi" Morales, 27, 46 Ringgold St., Apt 2, Springfield
-Victor "Money" Awokisa, 23, 86 Sherman St., Springfield
Conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine and possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine:
-Hector "Gordo" Adorno, 22, 86 Knollwood St., Springfield
-Daniel "Peanuts" Ruiz, 22, 62 Calhoun St., Springfield
Crack cocaine distribution:
-David "Little D" Marrero, 27, 21 Merwin St., Springfield, who also faces a firearms charge
-David Perez, 20, 80 Massasoit St., Springfield
Possession with intent to distribute and distribution of crack cocaine:
-Sergio Rodriguez, 27, 2718 Main St., Springfield
Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine:
-Melbin Berrios, 26, of 26 Ringgold St., Springfield
CHARGED IN HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT (Living in Holyoke unless otherwise noted.) All also charged with violation of a drug free school zone:
Cocaine distribution:
-David Worster, 22, 4 Oliver St.
-Angelo Garcia, 24, 105 Oswego St.
-Joseph Lorenzo, 18, 538 Pleasant St.
-Jesus Rosario, 24, 19 Worcester Place
-Osvaldo Vargas, 18, 209 Beech St.
-Jose Gonazalez, 18, 462 Maple St.
-Orlando Reyes, 35, 335 East Main St., Chicopee
Heroin distribution:
-Jose Rodriguez, 18, 181 Chestnut St.
-Rosa Bermudez, 53, 188 Oak St.
-Jose Cappas, 18,16 Cabot St.
-Ruth Cintron, 45, Sargeant Street
Cocaine distribution as a subsequent offender:
-Santiago Coriano, 45, 19 Worcester Place
-Alex Camacho, 28, 2 Monroe St.
-Andie Martell, 32, 107 Brown Ave.
Heroin distribution as a subsequent offender:
-Jose Carrasquillo, 32, 50 West St.
-Juan Ramos, 40, 18 Bemis St., Chicopee
-Jason Perez, 25, 584 South Summer St.
Cocaine, heroin distribution:
-Angel Rodriguez, 17, 883 Dwight St.
Two counts of heroin distribution:
-Jose Mangual, 37, 431 Appleton St.
-Luis Martinez, 20, 675 High St.


http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...d_in_gang.html

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Posted by: resqjyw0

by The Republican Newsroom
Friday May 16, 2008, 6:20 PM

By STEPHANIE BARRY
and BUFFY SPENCER
Staff writers

SPRINGFIELD - Dozens of suspected members and affiliates of the region's La Familia street gang chapter were rousted at dawn today and charged in federal and state courts with gang-related crimes.

Among the suspects arrested were alleged high-ranking members in what investigators described as a brutal hierarchy under which members were subjected to "one-minute beatings" as discipline and ordered to exact violence against rivals.

Among 34 arrested by the FBI's Western Massachusetts Gang Task Force in Springfield and Holyoke, most were charged drug or firearms offenses. Before a press conference at the federal building on Main Street, federal, state and local officials laid out a buffet of guns and drugs seized during the sweep.
FBI supervisor Mark S. Karangekis said the cocaine and heroin seized carried a street value of about $100,000.

Paul H. Smyth, head of the local U.S. Attorney's Office, said the arrests followed a two-year investigation into suspected gang activities in Springfield and Holyoke. During the investigation, a rivalry between La Familia members and the Latin Kings bubbled over and resulted in a dramatic shoot-out in broad daylight in downtown Holyoke last year.

Gabriel L. Hernandez, 22, of Springfield, identified as a La Familia member, died during the gunplay at High and Sargeant streets in April 2007. Four other men were wounded. Three men have been charged in connection with the shooting.

A sworn statement filed in connection with Friday's sweep says a woman charged with drug offenses, Maria Marquez, 33, of Holyoke, ordered a La Familia member to stash a gun that was used in the shoot-out somewhere in Worcester. Marquez is billed as the head of the La Familia "sisters" in Holyoke.

She is charged with four others in a cocaine distribution conspiracy, and was held without bail after a hearing in U.S. District Court. The FBI affidavit states she ordered underlings to be savagely beaten for various infractions.

Those subjected to so-called one-minute beatings were forced to endure the battery without defending themselves as a volunteer stood by and timed it, a witness told investigators.

Fourteen were charged in federal court while the remaining defendants will face charges in Hampden Superior Court.

Five of the defendants arrested on warrants after Hampden Superior Court indictments were arraigned Friday afternoon as the court scrambled to find lawyers who could come in and accept appointments to the cases. The charges for the five resulted from sale of cocaine to undercover police officers.

Bail was set in those cases; there was no mention of gang involvement during those proceedings. The FBI-led task force is comprised of federal agents, police from Springfield and Holyoke, Massachusetts State Police and Sheriff's Department staff.

Marquez toted narcotics between Vermont, Canada and here, according to the affidavit, at times stashing the drugs on her children.

Among others arrested were David "Little D" Marrero, 27, of Springfield, and Sergio Rodriguez, 27, of Springfield, identified in the affidavit as long-standing La Familia members heavily involved in the drug and gun trade in Springfield's North End.

Ten appeared in federal court and were held without the right to bail. Four others were already incarcerated on unrelated charges, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant.

Smyth said the sweep was part of an ongoing effort to rid the city of drugs and violence.

"If you belong to a gang and are polluting our streets with drugs and crippling our neighborhoods with violence, we know who you are and are coming for you," Smyth said.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...category=Crime

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