Major Crackdown on Minnesota Gangs in Law Enforcement Strategy Shift
Dozens of members of two Minneapolis street gangs are facing federal charges, a year after the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Minnesota, announced a crackdown on gangs.
45 members and associates of the Highs gang and the Bloods gang have been charged and taken into federal custody.
They are charged with numerous crimes including Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges for murder, attempted murder, robbery, obstruction of justice, and drug trafficking. Additional charges include the use of a firearm to commit murder and further drug trafficking charges.
“Starting with these charges, we are prosecuting street gangs as the criminal organizations they are,” stated U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger of the District of Minnesota. “We are addressing gang violence as organized criminal activity.”
U.S. Attorney Luger said the federal law enforcement community has been “carefully and deliberately” building these cases against the gangs for the past year.
“The aggregate nature of a RICO prosecution has a deeper impact and carries a stronger deterrence message, with the ultimate goal of reducing violence and returning peace to our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Luger, who added that his office will continue to bring such cases to root out gang activity in Minneapolis.
“Unrelenting Trail of Violence”
The indictment says the gangs engaged in a “brutal and unrelenting trail of violence” for years.
For the Highs, that includes five murders, numerous shootings, retaliating against rival gang members, robberies, and dealing fentanyl.
For the Bloods, that includes a 2020 shootout and murder at a club in Minneapolis, a 2022 murder outside of a pub, and numerous instances of narcotics trafficking.
Federal prosecutors in Minnesota received assistance from the Organized Crime and Gang Section at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the DOJ Criminal Division said the RICO statute allows law enforcement to dismantle criminal organizations from the top down.
“These organized criminal groups require an organized response from law enforcement,” said Assistant Attorney General Polite. “The Criminal Division is deploying its resources and expertise in close coordination with our partners to target the specific drivers of violent crime and hold gang members and associates accountable for their offenses.”
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), were assisted by state, county, and local Minnesota law enforcement in the investigation.
“No American should be forced to live in perpetual fear of being a victim of violent crime. These arrests demonstrate our efforts are turning the tide against organized crime in the Twin Cities and the upper Midwest,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of the FBI Minneapolis Field Office.