A joint operation with 225 local and federal law enforcement officers Thursday arrested 35 members and associates of Denver’s East Side Crips.
The Department of Justice announced that a total of 52 members and associates of the gang were charged with trafficking cocaine and crack cocaine in the Denver metro area. This comes a day after the DOJ announced that a 75-day crackdown on gang members in San Diego led to federal charges against over 140 gang members and associates.
“In Colorado we pride ourselves on gold-standard law enforcement partnerships that make life safe here,” Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer said in a statement.
The operation Thursday involved 225 special agents and officers from 18 agencies. The defendants were charged with a variety of drug trafficking crimes and some face up to life in prison.
Troyer said that the defendants were involved with selling drugs in parks, neighborhoods and public transit.
FBI Denver Division Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers said in a statement: “Crimes of this nature cause our citizens to live in fear and threaten to destroy our neighborhoods. This cannot be tolerated. We are confident today’s arrests will send a message to those contemplating committing these egregious acts that they will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
The Trump administration has made a concerted effort to focus on taking down gangs, specifically the notoriously violent immigrant gang MS-13.
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