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Latest Round of Bronx Gang Members Taken Down, Prosecutors Say

By Gustavo Solis | March 3, 2014 5:24pm
 Diamond Brown, and nine other members of the "280" gange in the South Bronx were arrested Friday. Their arrests wewere part of a bigger investigation that resulted in the arrests of 50 gang member.
"280" Arrests
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THE BRONX — Investigators have brought down another round of Morrisania gang leaders who opened fire on crowded Bronx streets as part of an ongoing turf war over drugs, authorities said.

Authorities have taken down 50 high ranking gang members that were linked to 34 shootings in the past three years, according to the city’s Office of Special Narcotics Prosecutor.

In the latest round of arrests on Friday, prosecutors arrested 10 gang members from the "280" gang, including alleged gang leader Diamond Brown, 21, also known as “Bo Gotti,” or “Debo,” and his top lieutenants, Jesus Perez and Guess Carter, they said.

Prosecutors said the gang used Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to sell drugs to pay for guns to fuel their brutal turf war with Morrisania gangs “Dub City,” “WTG,” and  “6 Wild." Since 2012, the gang members were known to shoot guns into busy streets, apartment buildings, and in one case into a crowded restaurant, leading to 43 people shot, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors indicted 17 members of “Dub City” for conspiracy, robbery and gun and drug sales. Nearly a dozen members of “WTG” were indicted in 2012 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, assault, gun sale and possession and drug possession. They also indicted 13 members of “6 Wild” in June 2013 on charges of attempted murder, robbery assault, narcotics and gun possession and sales, they said.

The gangs relied heavily on social media to sell crack, heroin and other drugs in order to pay for guns. They would upload photos and videos to sites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to organize numerous shootings, brag about their exploits, taunt rival gangs, and recruit new members, prosecutors said.

Rival gang members would often “friend” each other on Facebook to trash talk and show off. This helped recruit new members, who had to pay their way into the gang with a gun or enough money to buy a gun, sources said.

Brown, who was shot at least three times since October 2012, wrote on his Facebook page after a shooting last June, “IT REALLY COST TO BE THE BOSS,” prosecutors said.

They were expected to be arraigned Monday on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, assault, narcotics possession, and weapons possession.