Following yesterday's gang shakeup in south Phoenix, authorities are now well-equipped to make one hell of a rap video -- they seized cocaine, dozens of fancy cars, and enough cash to make it rain for days.
The Phoenix Police Department, as well as several other law enforcement agencies, carried out "Operation OGSTYLE" in south Phoenix yesterday morning in response to an increase of gang and drug violence.
The spoils of the operation, the Phoenix police announced yesterday, includes $170,000 in cash, 19 pounds of cocaine, 17 firearms, and dozens of high-end cars, including over $350,000 in vehicles from one
suspect, including vintage vehicles found hidden in storage units.
In all, 40 suspected gangsters and drug dealers were arrested when authorities simultaneously executed 20 search warrants throughout the city.
"Operation OGSTYLE" was headed by the Phoenix P.D. but included law
enforcement agents from several other agencies, including the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
Phoenix
police say officers from the South Mountain Precinct began to notice an
increase in drug-related complaints in south Phoenix in August of 2009.
Since
then, authorities have been monitoring the area for drug activity and
identified several gang leaders from several different gangs working
together to purchase, manufacture, and sell crack cocaine throughout
south Phoenix.
"The effect on the South Mountain community will be a lasting one; this
entire criminal organization has been dismantled from top to bottom,"
acting Phoenix Chief of Police Joe Yahner says.