Nearly 40 people charged in dismantling of Baltimore drug gang

In what authorities say is the largest case of its kind in recent years, local, state and federal authorities announced Monday that nearly 40 people allegedly belonging to four different criminal organizations in Southwest Baltimore have been charged with drug distribution and other crimes.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said that by listening to wiretaps, authorities were able to intervene before an alleged hit and at least one robbery, as well as disrupt a turf war that he said could have been “Brooklyn Day Part 2.” He talks about a mass shooting at a block party in 2023.

Authorities seized 67 firearms, including ghost guns and guns equipped with rapid-fire triggers, 15 stolen vehicles, more than seven kilograms of cocaine, three kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, and $373,000 in cash believed to be derived from the drug.

Most of the defendants were said to operate in three adjacent neighborhoods just north of Carroll Park.

The twelve were said to be part of a crew operating in the 1700 block of Lemmon St. in the Union Square neighborhood. The other 12 people were allegedly operating in the 500 block of Millington Ave. in the Mill Hill neighborhood. The three were located in the 2000 block of W. Pratt St. in Carrollton Ridge. All four defendants allegedly operated in the 2800 block of Edmondson Ave.

One person was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and three others were charged with armed robbery. Most of the defendants were accused of drug trafficking and participation in a criminal organization. Authorities said investigations into other acts of violence are ongoing.

The lawsuit began as a result of Mayor Brandon Scott’s “group violence reduction strategy.” Using a method called “focused deterrence” To identify people who are at risk of shooting someone or being shot and to help them change their course by providing services such as life coaching, behavioral health services, and housing support.

“Working together, sharing intelligence, engaging prosecutors in law enforcement investigations, and leveraging our collective resources to hold those who violate the strategy’s mandate to lay down arms and hold accountable those who perpetuate harm and violence,” Scott said in a statement.

Bates praised the efforts of Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron, an appointee of President Joe Biden whose days may be numbered with the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Bates said state investigators initially had difficulty finding sources for the wiretap, but Barron intervened and an intense six-month investigation began.

“But it wouldn’t have been done for Erek Barron,” Bates said in an interview.

It was a hallmark of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for federal law enforcement to conduct long-term investigations that resulted in the dismantling of major criminal organizations in a specific area of ​​the city, with federal indictments combining multiple allegations of violence. and most of the defendants were sentenced to long prison sentences.

That was largely missing during Barron’s tenure, and he says that was by design.

“If the case doesn’t escalate into more serious allegations, my side has had to deal with people saying, ‘They’re only going to get 18 months, 24 months,'” Barron said.

“It’s like, so you’re saying we shouldn’t do anything? If someone has a gun and we know they have a history, wouldn’t we rather keep them off the streets for a while rather than spend that time shooting people?”

Barron said he pushed back, saying research showed that the most important thing was not the length of the sentence but “being swift, precise and consistent.”

At least two of the defendants in the Southwest Baltimore investigation will be tried in federal court.

As of Friday, Baltimore has had 180 homicide victims this year; that number was about 24 percent fewer than the 236 people killed during the same period last year; There was a 34 percent decrease in non-fatal shootings. And this comes on the heels of a historic decrease in homicides from 2022 to 2023.

Barron said Bates came to him about six months ago out of frustration at not being able to secure federal funding for wiretaps in the case, which was announced Monday. They said together they made a “surprise” visit to lobby federal law enforcement leaders and cut through red tape.

“To dismantle four organizations that are terrorizing southwest and west Baltimore, and to do it within a six-month period, we haven’t seen this level of interception in years,” Bates said.

Banner reporter Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this article.