The Associated Press
HAUPPAUGE, New York- The hierarchy of the largely Hispanic Latin Kings gang on New York’s Long Island was arrested and $1.2 million worth of drugs were seized in a devastating blow to the tightly structured street thugs, authorities said Wednesday.
A 10-month investigation led to the arrests of 22 Latin Kings members and associates on various charges, mostly for the illegal sale of drugs, during a July 7 raid on more than a dozen residences, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
A copy of the Latin Kings bible, a 200-page loose-leaf book, was confiscated in a member’s house, providing investigators with the code of conduct of the 63-year-old nationwide organized crime group, Spota said.
The joint investigation by the police narcotics squad and the district attorney’s office began last summer after the gang’s No. 2 leader was arrested on charges of trafficking marijuana, authorities said.
The probe culminated in the arrests of three gang leaders, including George Carrion, 34, identified as leader of the local chapter. Carrion was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance and burglary and was being held on $1 million bail. He would face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The Almighty Latin King Nation started in Chicago in 1942 and was established in New York about 40 years ago. The gang is primarily in the drug dealing business, Spota said.
The gangsters, however, are forbidden by the code of conduct outlined in their bible from using drugs _ or from “being gay,” gambling or disrespecting a fellow gangster’s girlfriend.