By Todd Richmond
Published: June 14, 2011
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the drug crew for several months — using extensive electronic surveillance — before arresting six of the seven targets two weeks ago, according to a DEA release.
Police departments from Los Santos County, Alameda County and San Francisco County were also involved in the probe.
In addition to the Super Bowl ring, agents seized 3 kilograms of uncut cocaine, 8 pounds of marijuana, about $110,000 in cash and 4 weapons.
It was unclear how the drug traffickers wound up with the ring.
All six of the defendants — Antonio Gomand, 25, of Oakland, CA, Alfred Carr, 26, of Los Santos, SA, Sergio Greene, 21, of Los Santos, SA, Rico Cheatum, 23, of Los Santos, SA, Washington French, 24, of Los Santos, SA, Lonnie Ingram, 25, of Los Santos, SA — remain in federal custody. All were arrested two weeks ago.
Los Santos Drug Enforcement Administration recovered three kilograms of uncut cocaine, which DEA agent Roy Harris estimated to be worth $65,000 on the street
A long-term investigation culiminated over the weekend with the recovery of cocaine, marijuana, guns and about $110,000 in cash
Los Santos Drug Enforcement Administration announced Tuesday that a long-term investigation by that agency and others netted eight pounds of marijuana along with cocaine and guns. The marijuana had a street value of about $22,000
Los Santos Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Santos Police Department announced Tuesday that they had recovered about $11,000 in cash along with three kilos of cocaine and eight pounds of marijuana
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Delroy Wilcox, Crack Kingpin
By George Patel
Published: December 3, 2012
For almost two decades, Delroy Wilcox, 38, and his cohorts lived the high life. It was a life of extravagance and of excess. There was money and women and sports cars and jewelry and A-list celebrity acquaintances—and lots of lots of drugs. Today, they face an assortment of charges in federal district court in Los Angeles for which they could very well be sentenced to hundreds of years behind bars collectively. Their rags to riches story reads like the script to a Hollywood crime drama.
The West Oakland Lower Bottoms of Mr. Wilcox’s youth were a hotbed of gang activity. It was the time of the crack epidemic and grisly tales of depravity in low-income neighborhoods; of the generational implications of crack; and of the overnight millionaire kingpins that peddled the drug abounded.
As a Peabody underling, Mr. Wilcox grew his distribution network and his output quintupled. However, with growth came conflict and he would soon find himself mired in a lengthy gang war with a Peabody rival in the summer of 2000 whose death toll is estimated to have stood at seven. (Mr. Reynolds is still the prime suspect in one of the unsolved slayings but charges have never been filed.) But Mr. Wilcox’s big break came a year later when a police task force targeted the Peabody organization in the fall of 2001 and completely overlooked him as small fry. When the dust settled, Mr. Wilcox was the last man standing.
Federal prosecutors allege that by late 2003 Mr. Wilcox had moved to expand his criminal organization into the 700-unit Crystal Gardens public housing complex just off North Winona Avenue in Huntington Park. Mr. Reynolds had scouted the area in advance: local rivals were routed from their respective strongholds and compliant gangs were absorbed and then purged by the organization. However, the takeover was not without bloodshed as the organization racked up four of its twenty murder charges including those of Lamont Bennett, a varsity athlete, and twelve-year-old Yolanda Watkins.
Violent and drug-related crime surged in the Crystal Gardens area and efforts by the housing authority in collaboration with the police to curb this activity were thwarted by a newfound reticence among residents that would become a hallmark of the organization.
In early 2004 Mr. Wilcox himself relocated to Los Angeles where he put up in a plush downtown loft apartment. The Octopussy strip club on the site of the historic Bohemia jazz club at 1138 Main Street became his base of operations and also a source of laundered drug money, according to independent forensic accountants. It was at this seedy dive that Mr. Wilcox is said to have rubbed elbows with the likes of Oakland Raiders quarterback Kevin Dupree, disgraced mayor Jaime Olmos and many others.
The organization had evolved from a local gang into a statewide criminal enterprise worth millions of dollars by now and its members spared no expense in the indulgence of their every whim. Mr. Reynolds and his nephew, Mr. Ratliff, purchased $29,000 monogrammed Rolexes; LaVaughn “Rhino” Howard, a suspected organization henchman, spent $34,000 cash on a vintage Willys M38 US Army Jeep at a Florida auto show only to total it a month later; and even the prudent Mr. Wilcox bought a racehorse he called Napoleon. Meanwhile, the community of Crystal Gardens continued to be torn apart by the drugs peddled in its midst. But the organization was not yet satisfied as it soon set its eyes upon another target.
Federal prosecutors have tied a slew of killings at the predominantly Mexican Pat Nixon Homes off Harlow Street in the summer of 2005 to a push into that area by the organization. Brandon Weekes, a seventeen-year-old new recruit from Crystal Gardens at the time with a Godfather obsession for which he was nicknamed “Marlon Brando,” is said to have earned a reputation as a fierce gunman for the organization when he killed thirteen local rivals in four days as part of the land grab. Among his victims was also Carmen Saavedra, 34, a single mother of three, whose family has attended every day of the proceedings despite outbursts of racist invective from Mr. Weekes.
Federal prosecutors seek the death penalty for Mr. Weekes. As for Mr. Wilcox and Mr. Reynolds, 25-to-life without the possibility of parole will be enough to satisfy them if neither of the two try for a plea bargain first. Mr. Wilcox’s attorney, Otis Glassman, for one, is optimistic.
“Delroy done made his fair share of mistakes. Anybody [can] tell you that! Let me ask you something, though. Who among us ain’t? Oh, he innocent of this one, baby, and you best believe that, too.”
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Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and $5,000 Seized in Drug Bust
By Marissa DeSantos
Published: July 4, 2013
Los Santos County Detective Gregory Gorczynski said authorities executed a search warrant at a unit in Governor Armstrong Apartments, located on North Lexington Avenue, on June 25th.
The search was a result of an extensive narcotics investigation into Dion “Boobie” Hollis, 22, who was residing at apartment A-4 with his mother and longtime girlfriend, authorities said. Whether or not Mr. Hollis' mother and girlfriend were involved with this scheme is unknown and it is yet to be determined as detectives dig further into their investigation.
According to Gorczynski, Hollis has been a longtime drug offender in the Western Idlewood area. He was previously arrested by the Los Santos County Police Department in February 2010 for distributing crack cocaine and prescription medication, the detective said. He was sentenced to four years in the Los Santos State prison for the previous charges, but was released early by courts on October 23rd, 2012, according to state Department of Corrections records.
During the execution of the search warrant last week, authorities said they found Hollis to be in possession of one pound of methamphetamine, twenty six bags of crack cocaine, and two ounces of powered cocaine with an estimated street value of $26,000. Over $5,000 in cash was also found at the scene of his arrest.
“Hollis has been a long time distributor who maintained affiliations with the local Pat Nixon Gangster Crips street gang in the Western Idlewood area and I am glad to see that his illegal enterprise has been interrupted by the efforts of the Los Santos County Police Department and Los Santos County Prosecutors Office,” said Gorczynski.
“Our residents continue to support our law enforcement efforts by coming forward with information. Collectively we continue to do all we can to keep Los Santos County a safe place to live in.”
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SDPD Officer Snares Major Drug Seizure in Traffic Stop
By Joseph Lee
Published: December 8, 2013
The Tools of the Trade: cash, cocaine and cell phones |
Nicholas Meadows, 25, of Los Santos, Antonio Jean Gomand, 27, of Oakland and Jonelle Luisa Anthony, 26, of Oakland, who was found to be the operator of the vehicle. All three were arrested. As the investigation progressed, a search of the vehicle revealed 600 grams of powdered cocaine; with an estimated street value of over $50,000. A quantity of marijuana, CDS processing materials, and 11 cell phones were also discovered. A search of Mr. Gomand’s person led to the discovery of $4,035.22 in cash. The vehicle was towed from the scene and impounded.
Marijuana (possible 1 year and $1,000 fine), Possession of CDS paraphernalia (possible $500 fine), and related traffic charges of Driving while Impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Meadows, Gomand and Anthony were initially jailed on a full $125,000 cash bond which was promptly posted; with them being released on the same day of their arrest. The 2003 Mercedes-Benz ML500 and the $4,035.22 in cash recovered from Anthony and Gomand were placed into evidence pending forfeiture proceedings by the San Diego Police Department. A preliminary hearing in San Diego Superior Court is set for December 17, 2013.
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20-ton Hydraulic Press Recovered in Cardinal Park Drug Bust
By Ethan Hendricks
Published: February 13, 2014
The home was otherwise empty, except for a TV and the machine you see at the bottom.
It’s a 20 ton hydraulic press and a cursory web search shows you can get one for as cheap as $200. It’s used to straighten, stamp and bend metal for automotive and general shop work, according to web sites that have them for sale.
Detective Steve Hammond, a police spokesman and drug cop, said it’s also used by mid-to upper-level drug dealers to easily shape kilos of cocaine into neat and tidy, ready to package bricks.
“You know how you pour hot metal into something to shape it?” Hammond said. “They liquefy the drugs, pour it into that shape, and then they compress the drugs into the form of a kilo block while it dries.”
In the raid, police found baking soda and other cutting agents. “He was taking the raw cocaine, adding the cutting agent like baking soda or creatine, liquefying it and making a kilo, then selling it for a full raw kilo price.”
In layman’s terms? “He was ripping people off.”
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Police Mishandle Frees Murder Suspect
By Anne Nguyen
Published: August 31, 2014
An alleged gang member and murder suspect of East Idlewood was released from city police custody earlier this week as a result of what the Los Santos Police Department are referring to as a "case mishandle." The Los Santos Police Department's Office of Public Relations commented that investigative units within the police department were "under revision" and receiving new appointments during the month of August.
Gerardo Rose, 23, was arrested in late July for a shooting which took place on Beverly Street earlier in the month of July that left one dead and one other wounded. East Idlewood resident Omar Palmer, 20, was found shot to death on the sidewalk of Beverly Street on July 7 after a 911 call not long after the shooting itself. A second 911 call reported Palmer returning fire during the shooting. However, investigators did not indicate the use of firearm separate from the one used in Palmer's killing. Local resident and mother of two Gina Young, 19, was also wounded in the shooting.
Rose's court trial date was initially due on September 12, 2014. Personnel changes within the Los Santos Police Department's investigative units, however, hindered the progress in Rose's murder trial. Detectives assigned to the murder case were unable to formally organize and forward case preparations to city prosecutors due to their reassignments. Retired city gang enforcement officer Rodney Mills commented on the withdrawn court trial: "This [isn't] the first time I've seen Houston and the rest [of] them try to pull good cops off [of] a good lead. It's because of this [that] I left the job." Rose was released from police custody on August 27.
San Andreas Attorny General Camala Hairs stated that her office will be taking charge of Palmer's murder case with new leads. Rose is believed to be a member of the growing Bloods street gang in America and is a priority for the San Andreas Attorney General's office. Anyone with information regarding the murder of Omar Palmer is asked to call (800) 952-5552.
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Armed Cocaine Dealer Rams Los Santos Police Car
By Claire Wilson
Published: March 17, 2014
Lavoy G. Tate, 24, is presently jailed in lieu of $25,000 bond on charges of possessing cocaine for resale, felony marijuana possession, carrying a gun in the commission of a dangerous felony, aggravated assault on an officer, evading arrest and driving without a license.
Tate was the subject of an investigation of Drug Enforcement Administration detectives. When he saw officers closing in Friday afternoon on Menlo Avenue in South Los Santos, Tate crashed into the police vehicle, bailed out and fled, but was captured after a brief foot chase. Seized were more than 85 grams of cocaine, 8.5 grams of marijuana and a semi-automatic pistol. Tate admitted to officers that he had come to Menlo Avenue to sell cocaine. He said he was carrying the gun to defend himself in the event of a robbery.
The Los Santos Drug Enforcement Administration was called to the scene and the substance was field tested and tested positive for cocaine. Police estimate the cocaine seized is valued at approximately $12,000
The Los Santos Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 85 grams of powered cocaine, 8.5 grams of marijuana and a semi-automatic pistol
Upon being searched, the Los Santos Police Department found a Glock 23 .40 on Tate’s person