Thirteen members of the 9-Tek Grenades, part of the Bloods street gang, were arrested on organized crime charges.The gang made its money off armed robberies and home invasions for four years. Their crimes were spread all over Central Florida, more than 40 of them. One of them happened a few months ago when a gang member got into a fight with another customer and police found his pockets stuffed with drugs.
The suspects made no secret about their affiliation. The 9-Tek Grenades were part of the East Coast Bloods. They had amassed an arsenal of handguns and assault rifles used in home invasions and armed robberies.But with the arrest of 12 men and one woman, investigators said they've ended the gang's four-year run."The Bloods are a violent criminal gang in this community and had the potential to terrorize any community in northeast Florida," said Dominick Pape, Florida Department of Law Enforcement.The gang literally grew up in the county, with several members starting as juveniles, possibly recruited from schools. They went through initiations to get in. One may have been in Daytona Beach in April, when two men were randomly cut with knives by men wearing red bandanas."The one we arrested today, frankly, is one of the worst we have arrested in our state," said state prosecutor William Shepherd.
The sheriff's office said there would be more arrests, but they had cut the head off the organization. After some denials this year, though, about gang activity in the county, Eyewitness News asked why it took four years to take the gang apart.
"When you talk about why, it takes a long time to build a RICO case, and it shows evident when you look at the bail we're putting on all these people," said Flagler County Sheriff Don Fleming.Not only have the gang members been charged for their crimes, but also on state racketeering charges. The bail the sheriff mentioned is $1 to $2 million for each gang member.