State officials announce crackdown on 183 Gangster Bloods gang
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced charges Thursday against 17 members of the alleged 183 Gangster Bloods including two gang members from Athens.
Joining Carr at a news conference in Atlanta to announce the indictments was Gov. Brian Kemp, who praised the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Gang Task Force and other agencies for the investigation.
A House Bill signed by Kemp early this year gave concurrent jurisdiction for the Attorney’s General’s Office to prosecute gang activity statewide, according to a news release from the offices of Kemp and Carr.
The 183 Gangster Bloods, a set of the street gang known as the Bloods, is based in the Bronx, N.Y.
The ages of those indicted ranged from 19 to 49. Among the suspects is Ralph Alicea, who is serving time in Attica State Prison in New York and is alleged to be the national leader of the gang. The two men from Athens were indicted as a result of crimes that officials said occurred in Athens.
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The indictments allege the gang members worked together to illegally obtain money, weapons and property and that the acts were perpetrated through various means including assault and threats of violence.
Crimes by the gang occurred between January 2019 and October 2022 in Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Bulloch, Candler, Chattooga, Fulton, Gwinnett, Laurens, Monroe and Walton, according to the news release.
The indictments reveal electronic communications including such gang recruitment statements where one member wrote “start breeding like krazy.” One item in the indictment shows the gang member scheduled a block party with the purpose of recruiting children.
Another reads: “I’m working on it. I be buying the neighborhood kids ice cream when the truck come out there. And I’m planning to put together a big cookout for the hood.”
The documents also disclose where some gang members purchased firearms from stores in the region with many being purchased at gun outlets in Athens. One communication also suggests that a firearm be taken by robbery from a rival gang member.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: 17 members of alleged 183 Gangster Bloods gang charged in Athens crackdown
