Feds Charge 57 White Supremacist Gang Members on Kidnapping, Drug Trafficking in Texas

Federal authorities announced charges for 57 white supremacist gang members in connection with kidnapping and drug trafficking conspiracies in Texas.

Of these 57, officials arrested 42 gang members last week in North Texas, said Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, at a press conference held Monday. Nine others were already in custody on unrelated charges. The feds continue to search for six more.

The defendants have ties with various violent white nationalist organizations including the Aryan Brotherhood, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), the Aryan Circle, the Peckerwoods, the Soldiers of Aryan Culture, and the Dirty White Boys, according to a 55-count indictment. All stand accused of engaging in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamines and other illegal narcotic substances throughout North Texas and elsewhere. The indictment stated that certain defendants used firearms to further their drug trafficking activities.

Additionally, some of the defendants are affiliated with the criminal street or prison gang Tango Blast. Previously, Breitbart Texas reported this criminal gang and its affiliated cliques are in cities across Texas, estimated to have more than 19,000 members.

From approximately October 2015 through April 2018, the defendants conspired together, and with others, to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamines in Texas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The defendants used stash houses or other locations to store the narcotics, and acted as intermediaries and brokers to negotiate the acquisition, price, delivery and payment for the quantities of methamphetamine.

The indictment also alleged that, earlier this year, four of the defendants kidnapped a man from the Dallas area, accusing him of stealing $600 of drug money from them, They pointed a pistol at the victim’s head , threatened to kill him, hit the victim with a large wooden object on the back of his head, and used a hatchet to chop off a portion of the victim’s left index finger, according to Nealy Cox. She said, “The victim narrowly escaped with his life.”

Throughout this investigation, federal law enforcement agents seized almost $376,590 in cash, more than 190 kilograms of methamphetamines, and 31 firearms.

“Not only do white supremacist gangs subscribe to a repugnant, hateful ideology, they also engage in significant, organized and violent criminal activity,” said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a prepared statement. “Under the Trump administration, the Department of Justice has targeted every violent criminal gang member in the United States.” He also stated, “The quantities of drugs, guns, and money seized in this case are staggering.” Sessions noted that these indictments, arrests, and seizures “make this country safer.”

The Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center coordinated this investigation. The center, comprised of various law enforcement agencies, implements innovative approaches to fighting violent criminal gangs and transnational criminal organizations. In 2012, the first anti-gang center launched in Weslaco. Today, there a handful of these centers around the state including in North Texas. The U.S. Marshal Service North Texas Fugitive Task Force; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and police departments in Dallas, Irving, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite, and Fort Worth assisted in the investigation.

Last year, Breitbart Texas reported that federal authorities sentenced 89 North Texas white supremacist gang members, including the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas and Aryan Circle, the Dirty White Boys, the White Knights, the Irish Mobs, and Peckerwood, in the nation’s largest prosecution of violent and racist outlaws with extensive criminal records.  In this massive sting, officials apprehended several high-ranking gang members. In all, those sentenced received a total of 1,070 years in federal prison for dealing approximately 2,108 pounds of methamphetamines with a street value of almost $10 million and possessing 88 weapons.

Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter.