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08/12/03
On August
8th, 17 gang members were charged with an extensive cocaine
conspiracy in the Florida Housing Development in the greater
New Orleans area. The year-long investigation was conducted
by the New Orleans PD's Fifth District Narcotics Investigations
Unit and the FBI New Orleans Gang Task Force as part of the
Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhood. FBI Special
Agent in Charge Louis Reigel, New Orleans PD Superintendent
Edwin Compass, and U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced the
indictments.
This
indictment comes on the heels of late July indictments in
Baton Rouge from Operation Escalade and Operation Tracer--investigations
conducted by the area's Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement
Task Force, a force made up of 8 federal agencies, the Baton
Rouge PD, the Louisiana State Police, and the East Baton Rouge
Parish Sheriff's Office.
U.S.
Attorney Jim Letten said about the case that it was "another
significant attack upon the dangerous and destructive drug
trade and its cycle of violence in the New Orleans area,"
promising to "relentlessly keep up and even increase
our pressure upon drug distributors and dangerous individuals
in the quest to protect our citizens."
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