“The investigation turned up that a lot of them were not only organizing crews of guys to do home invasion robberies and burglaries, but were also engaged in illegal firearms trafficking, the laundering of the proceeds from the robberies and the burglaries and a large-scale crack distribution.”
An 18-month-long investigation targeting one of Los Angeles’ most notorious street gangs culminated Thursday with the arrests of nearly three dozen suspected gang members and individuals linked to the South L.A. gang.
Dubbed “Operation Thumbs Down,” the probe zeroed in on the Rollin’ 30s Harlem Crips. The “sophisticated” group, as Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Pelham described it, claims territory over the 1.5-square-mile area between Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards and Normandie Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, according to City News Service. In case you’re wondering how the investigation’s name came to be, it refers to the hand gesture used by the violent inter-generational gang, in which two upward thumbs signify the “H” in Harlem.
Over the past five years, a total of 29 murders have taken place within the Rollin’ 30s Harlem Crips’ zone. About 1,100 robberies and 1,075 assaults have been linked to the gang during that time period as well. The group reportedly excels in “floccin’,” a term it uses to describe “knock-knock” burglaries. CNS explains that an estimated 700 to 1,000 people are members of the gang, which is composed of three “cliques” or “sets” identified as the Avenues, Denker Park and 39th Street. Each set has its own leaders or “shotcallers” and terrorizes a specific geographical territory.
Several children linked to the gang have been photographed pointing semi-automatic weapons, says KTLA—images which were posted to social media sites.
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