U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have arrested 90 persons in raids on suspected violent street gangs in Oklahoma that purportedly distributed methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana at the Creek Indian gaming facilities and adjacent Indian lands.
James L. Capra, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Dallas field division, said members of the agency’s Mobile Enforcement Team (MET) seized more than 725 grams of methamphetamine, 345 grams of cocaine powder, 500 grams of crack cocaine, and 255 grams of marijuana in the probe, along with six weapons.
Mr. Capra said targets of the federal probe included leaders of “extremely dangerous and violent organizations” planted in east-central Oklahoma by a street gang in Muskogee known as the 107 Hoover Crips, which has been tied to numerous homicides in the area. He said the Crips and the Bloods in Okmulgee County were also targets of the investigation.
“This operation highlights our combined commitment to bring to justice those violent criminal drug-trafficking organizations that have plagued this region of Oklahoma,” Mr. Capra said. “This is a reminder that the cities, towns, and streets of Oklahoma do not belong to drug traffickers and we will continue to enforce the rule of law to make Oklahoma communities safer.”
Mr. Capra said 90 persons have been charged and others will be charged as a result of the investigation. He said many of those charged were arrested Tuesday morning in and around Muskogee, Okmulgee and Tulsa, Okla.
Several were already in custody on charges filed earlier, and some were in various jails on other charges, he said.
METs deploy at the request of local communities to bring federal, state and local resources together to dismantle drug-trafficking organizations. The DEA established the MET initiative in 1995 to assist local agencies without the staff, money and prosecution strength necessary to stop sophisticated narcotics operations.
By working with these agencies to target organizations causing drug-related violence and arrest key individuals for methamphetamine trafficking, Mr. Capra said MET has helped reduce violence in hundreds of communities across America.
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 gave Indian tribes the right to establish and run gambling facilities on Indian land anywhere within the United States. Oklahoma passed a constitutional amendment in November 2004 giving recognition to the existing and future gambling facilities owned and operated by the Oklahoma tribes.
The Muscogee Creek Nation operates bingo parlors and casinos in a number of locations.
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