Largest gang roundup in Ulster Co. history nabs 101 suspects

Gallo, Carnright and Tinti announce the gang arrests
KINGSTON – A dragnet involving 175 cops arrested 86 alleged drug dealers throughout the greater Kingston area Saturday morning, as part of Phase 2 for Operation Clean Sweep. They were accused of drug sales and possession, along with several assault and weapons charges.

“Although at first blush, this may appear to be a narcotics investigation, in fact the origin and focus has been gang activity in Ulster County,” Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said. “We have been aggressively fighting this scourge.”

Two years ago, a government witness against the Bloods street gang was murdered in Midtown Kingston. The killers belonged to an Albany Bloods faction known as Sex, Money and Murder. As a result, KPD Det. Richard Negron was assigned full-time to the DA's office, to preempt further gang mayhem.

“He brought to my attention chilling intelligence that other Bloods members were organizing to fill the void left by the removal of the SMM set from Kingston,” Carnright said.

“We did not have an easy process or vehicle to share that intelligence.
Nor did any single agency have the resources necessary to carry out the kind of extensive investigation of which you see the fruits of today,” he said.

“We decided to form a task force. The most effective way to combat this threat was to take away its lifeline, the street narcotics trade,” the DA said.

Kingston City Police Chief Egidio Tinti displayed a household broom as a symbol of police efforts to clean up Kingston. Since Friday evening, 101 people were nabbed for 536 felony charges, under 86 indictments unsealed last Thursday. He said 14 suspects remained at large.

Carnright convened a special grand jury in January for the purpose of secretly handling the sensitive operation. A total of 207 undercover buys netted 365 grams of cocaine evidence with $20,000 was spent purchasing drugs before the raid. Carnright declined to estimate how much money the criminal organization earned.

Among those in custody are 32 Bloods, six Bloods associates, five Blackout, and three Crips gang members.

Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo praised the effort, and vowed to ask the common council to provide whatever resources are needed to continue keeping gangs and drugs off city streets. http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2012/April/01/KingstonGangArrs-01Apr12.htm