Feds Bust Detroit Gang Band Crew
They took to social media to brag about their conquests. They were high profile on Twitter and Facebook. But Feds busted the Detroit street gang known as the Band Crew. Authorities say the gang owned machine guns, sold drugs and robbed kids as they walked home from school. They went as far as trying to commit murder.
According to The Detroit News, in a 28-page indictment, unsealed Tuesday, the federal government gave accounts of how it took down a vicious gang that had terrorized Detroit for years. Feds busted eight key players in the gang. They sported names like Bam, Trick, and Gwopp.
The gang was known as Band Crew, but also went by other names including: Young N Crispy, Constantly Making Hundreds – formerly known as Cash Money Hoes – and FOE Life, which stands for Family Over Everything Love is Forever. Those branches of the gang were also comprised of juveniles.
The indictment also described how the gang was formed in 2011. The members met at a Burger King restaurant. Massive amounts of criminal activity followed: gas station robberies, home invasions, shootings, selling drugs, and attempted murder. In November 2012, members allegedly shot a rival gang member in the chest. The member, identified as Y.B., survived the shooting.
Feds tried to bust the gang for years, but they intimidated witness to keep them quiet. Things finally turned in the Feds favor when a trail of evidence, on social networks, caught up with eight of the members. The charges are the result of the Detroit One initiative, a collaborative effort between law enforcement and the community to reduce violent crime in Detroit.
The federal bust of Band Crew is the latest crackdown on organized crime in Detroit. Per the Detroit Free Press, there were also indictments of members of the Vice Lords gang last month and street gang Related Through Money last spring.
As reported by WXYZ in Detroit, retired Deputy Chief Darryl Brown praised the effort of the Feds and local police. He was also the head of an elite gang unit that led the nation in gang related arrests.
“We have to be proactive. Proactive policing has been shown to reduce crime. Law enforcement is getting very good at using social media as a tool to investigate, and to persue and also convict criminals.”
All of the gang members arrested remain in custody, pending their next court appearance. They are being held without bond.
[Photo via YouTube]
