60-plus people arrested in N.J. raids

WEST TRENTON, N.J. -- Officers arrested more than 60 members of a notoriously violent street gang in a series of raids across New Jersey early Tuesday that also turned up drugs and guns and led to the arrests of four leaders accused of directing operations from prison.

More than 60 people connected with the Nine Trey Gangsters, part of the Bloods gang, had been arrested by noon Tuesday, and many as 40 more arrests were expected in cities across the state, including Newark, Trenton and Atlantic City, authorities said.

The targets represent more than a third of the gang's membership in the state, including several top leaders.

"The aim was to dismantle this set of the Bloods gang," said Anne Milgram, first assistant attorney general.

State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes called the operation the biggest in state history, both in the number of gang members arrested and the impact on the gang. A similar operation targeting the Latin Kings a couple of years ago took up to 60 gang members off the streets, "and they still haven't recovered," Fuentes said.

Fuentes described the Nine Treys, also known as 9-3, as the "most violent and fear-invoking" of the state's street gangs. The gang dealt in narcotics and weapons trafficking, extortion and assault, and its members are believed responsible for an unspecified number of murders and drive-by shootings, he said.

Its so-called godfather, David "Duke" Allen, 32, of Newark, allegedly continued to direct gang activity from inside New Jersey State Prison. Authorities said another incarcerated leader, James "Rell" Pringle, ordered hits on fellow gang members from prison.

"They found a way of getting information to their intermediaries," Fuentes said. "They were able to continue the information flow."

During the raids, police seized heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and guns. The FBI, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Corrections Department, New York police, and federal immigration department were also involved in the raids. Most of the suspects will face racketeering charges.

Investigators had infiltrated the gang during an 11-month investigation, though agency representatives would not say how because the investigation is ongoing.