West Trenton, NJ - Early this morning in locations throughout New Jersey, the State Police’s Intelligence Section launched raids against the infamous Nine Trey Gangsters street gang targeting 96 gang members and affiliated persons. Dubbed “Operation Nine Connect,” today’s actions are the culmination of an 11-month joint investigation by the Division of State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice aimed at disabling this violent group believed to be responsible for more violent crime than any other street gang. Arrests continued throughout the morning in locations across the state. As of the printing of this release, more than 60 persons had been arrested with further arrests expected over the coming weeks.

Teams of troopers and officers from 31 agencies in 7 counties arrested their quarry and executed more than 15 search warrants to recover additional evidence of crimes. During the operation, approximately 500 law enforcement officers worked in this cooperative effort. Charges ranged from 1st degree Racketeering to extortion, money laundering, organized criminal gambling, distribution of CDS (drugs), weapons charges, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Intelligence has revealed that Nine Trey members have been responsible for a number of murders and untold numbers of drive by shootings.

During the execution of arrest and search warrants today, several handguns were recovered and quantities of drugs were seized in each of the three regions. Arrest teams processed subjects in the closest of three regional State Police headquarter buildings in Buena (Atlantic), Hamilton (Mercer), and Totowa (Passaic). Each regional location was staffed with Deputy Attorneys General to provide legal guidance throughout the operation. From there, the gang members and affiliates were bussed to Mercer County Jail, where by prior agreement, they were all lodged pending arraignments over the next few days.

“Our aim in this investigation was, quite simply, to put an end to this extremely violent set of the Bloods street gang in New Jersey,” said Attorney General Farber. “We have successfully executed one of the most significant and large-scale gang takedowns in the history of law enforcement in our state.”

“In this operation, the State Police are indeed striking at the root of evil rather than hacking at its branches,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “This type of intelligence-led policing reduces crime by eliminating it at the source.”

Operation Nine Connect is the first major project of the realignment of the investigative resources in the State Police that occurred in 2005. Lt. Colonel Frank Rodgers, Deputy Superintendent of the Investigations Branch initiated these changes to infuse intelligence-based policing into the architecture of the agency. Intelligence analysts worked through the results of the Statewide Gang Survey and pored over crime data to come up with the most critical threat to safety in New Jersey.

“We found the Nine Trey set of the Bloods were responsible for more violence and crime than any other source at this time,” said LTC Rodgers. “By concentrating our enforcement on the source of the problem, we will have an impact on the quality of life for our citizens.”

“We took down almost the entire leadership of the Nine Trey set,” added Rodgers. “We are very satisfied with the results of Operation Nine Connect.” The State Police gang analysts estimate the strength of this set to be between 250 and 275 members in New Jersey.

“This is what we have in store for the leaders of New Jersey’s violent street gangs,” said Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw. “We will be steadfast in our efforts to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the gunfire that is ravaging many of our communities.”

Under the new structure, Regional Intelligence Groups (RIG) contain both analysts and intelligence officers responsible for interpreting the criminal environment within each bureau’s specific area of responsibility. They provide strategic and tactical intelligence products that influence how best to allocate resources.

The Nine Trey Gangster are located throughout New Jersey, with strong networks located in the cities of Newark, Paterson, Atlantic City, Trenton, Asbury Park, Keansburg, and Bridgeton/Millville/Vineland (BMV are run as a single entity by the bloods hierarchy).

The name “Operation Nine Connect” was derived from the gangs organized hierarchy that moved leadership members around to run different cities and allowed high-ranking members in prison to issue orders to others on the outside. East Coast Bloods sets were founded on Rikers Island in 1993 by Omar Portee (O.G. Mack) and Leonard McKenzie (O.G. Deadeye). The first set created in the prison was the Nine Trey Gangsters. Mack and O.G. Deadeye are considered the "Godfathers" or O.G. (Original Gangster) of the East Coast Bloods. The two recruited inmates to form the Bloods to fight off the Neta and Latin King gangs within the facilities. Identifiers include distinct tattoos, the use of hand signs, and the display of red items on their person, such as red bandanas, caps, and clothing.

Their organizational structure typically consists of multiple OG (Original Gangster), Captains, Lieutenants, and Soldiers. Historically, Bloods members have been involved with murder, aggravated assault, sexual assaults, witness intimidation, firearms trafficking, vehicle theft, and most of all, narcotics distribution.

In the state of New Jersey, the Newark set is the largest, and most influential, directing a portion of the criminal activities occurring in other Nine Trey Gangsters city strongholds. David “Duke” Allen, of Newark (NJ) has received “Universal G Status” within the Nine Trey Gangsters gang, which affords him this status on a nationwide level. The investigation has revealed that Allen, from prison, has ordered disciplinary actions as well as hits on fellow gang members for Bloods misconduct.

In the Central region, the Trenton set is the most prominent, and was the focus of the initial investigation. Smaller sets are located in Asbury Park and Keansburg. These two sets have established structures with 5-star generals in command. In the South region, Atlantic City is the stronghold.

“The information gathered in this case and through these arrests will continue to fuel our attack on street gangs and the crimes they commit,” said Colonel Fuentes. “Guided by intelligence-based policing, we will follow crime to its root causes and strike our most effective blows there.”