Milwaukee police believe they’ve taken a bite out of crime in a west side neighborhood. Authorities announced Wednesday they’ve arrested 18 reputed gang members and have charged them with dealing drugs. WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson has more.
Acting US Atty. Michelle Jacobs described the bust as large scale, with officers executing search warrants and netting arrests across the city. She commended the collaborative effort it took to break up the gang.
“The takedown involved over 300 law enforcement officers and resulted in the seizure of crack cocaine, a large number of firearms and a large amount of cash,” Jacobs says.
The suspects range from 26 to 50 years old. Outside of the 18 arrested Tuesday, four others are already in jail and three remain at large. Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn says those in custody are reputed members of two groups: the West-Cly Boys and the Vliet Street Gangster Disciples. They had mostly been operating in the area of 35th to 47th streets, and from Vliet Street to Lisbon Avenue. Flynn predicts the arrests will lead to the resolution of a lot of crime in the neighborhood.
“When you take down a group like this, we find that they’re involved in robberies, they’re involved in shootings, they’re involved in money laundering. They even, like any good investor, spread their risk across drug dealing to prostitution and other forms of criminal activity,” Flynn says.
Flynn says the investigation began nine months ago and comes on the heels of similar dismantlings of gangs in the past couple of years. He says a strong police presence will remain in the neighborhood to make sure another group doesn’t pick up where this one left off.
“We understand that an effort like this de-stabilizes a criminal environment in some way, and our job is to make sure that de-stabilization, that vacuum is filled by us and not competing drug gangs and that’s certainly a priority for us moving forward,” Flynn says.
Flynn says the department will not rest on its laurels and will work to arrest three others who are still on the run. Many of those already in custody face ten years to life in prison if convicted.
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