8 Gang Members Arrested in Raids

In predawn raids that stretched from the Moreno Valley to Compton, federal and local law enforcement officials arrested eight gang members who police say had virtually taken control of a Compton housing project and made it the center of their cocaine distribution network, officials said Friday.

Members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Gang Task Force swept through the Wilmington Arms housing project in Compton about 6 a.m. Friday, seizing two kilograms of cocaine and arresting three members of a Crips faction that allegedly used the sprawling complex as their base for distributing rock cocaine, said John Martsh of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Another dealer was arrested at his home in the Moreno Valley, while four other gang members were seized Thursday after they tried to sell cocaine to undercover drug agents, said DEA spokesman Ralph Lochridge.

The eight gang members will be prosecuted under federal rather than state law, and those who are repeat offenders could face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted.