Hundreds charged in NYC gangs bust

A NYPD officer looks from his booth as he checks the security at the zone of the General Grant houses in New York. Picture: Eduardo Munoz

A NYPD officer looks from his booth as he checks the security at the zone of the General Grant houses in New York. Picture: Eduardo Munoz

Published Jun 5, 2014

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New York - More than 100 members of three New York City street gangs who waged years of deadly turf wars have been charged.

The three gangs operating in west Harlem were accused of two homicides, 19 non-fatal shootings and 50 incidents in which firearms were used, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said on Wednesday.

The 103 indictments capped a 4.5-year investigation.

Many of those charged were taken into custody on Wednesday.

“The deadly and dangerous feud between the Manhattanville and Grant Houses dates back decades,” Vance said.

“In the last four years, it has escalated into a bloody turf war marked by violence for the sake of violence.”

He said prosecutors and investigators analysed more than 40 000 prison calls, screened hundreds of hours of surveillance video and reviewed more than a million pages of social media exchanges.

The gangs in some cases recruited members as young as 10 and 14 to carry out violent crimes, authorities said. - AFP

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