Members of a Palm Springs gang allegedly involved in local drug sales were arrested Wednesday during a series of early morning raids conducted by the District Attorney’s Office’s Gang Impact Team.
Starting around 5 a.m., officers made arrests and raided homes occupied by members of the Gateway Posse Crips, which prosecutors say has been involved in homicides, narcotics sales and a variety of other crimes since the gang’s inception in 1988.
Dubbed Operation Gatekeeper II, the sweep resulted in seven arrests and the seizures of a handgun, as well as heroin, methamphetamine and ecstasy. Eight others with outstanding warrants involving drug sales were still being sought, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The raid, in which officers made undercover purchases of cocaine, crack, methamphetamine and ecstasy from suspected gang members, was the culmination of a four-month investigation into the Crips.
“Our Gang Impact Team continues to expand across the county,” District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. “Today’s operation is another example of the outstanding work they do going after the criminal street gangs that are responsible for so much of our crime.”
Operation Gatekeeper II was so named following a similar raid conducted against the gang in 2009, which resulted in 17 arrests and the recovery of 37 firearms, DA’s spokesman John Hall said.
Both operations were conducted by the DA’s Gang Impact Team, which includes a member of the Palm Springs Police Department, as well as officers from several other federal and local law enforcement agencies. Most recently, the Gang Impact Team arrested more than 80 people and seized more than 100 firearms across two operations conducted in Desert Hot Springs and Hemet.
Palm Springs police Chief Bryan Reyes said: “The Gang Impact Team is extremely effective throughout our county and I am fortunate to have a member of the Palm Springs Police Department on the team. Through shared resources and a team approach, the community of Palm Springs and Riverside County will benefit from this ongoing approach on crime.”
–City News Service