Gang crackdown aimed at making Roxbury development safe for residents

A dozen men and one teen who police say had turned Orchard Park development near Dudley Square into a violent open-air drug bazaar were charged with federal drug offenses yesterday following a two-year investigation, Boston Police and the US Attorney's office report.

It was the second large-scale set of gang-related arrests in two days - the day before, BPD and the feds arrested 17 members of warring Dorchester gangs.

Officials hope the charges against 12 men and one teenager in the Orchard Park case - plus an earlier arrest and conviction of a man on crack and gun charges - lead to a safer Orchard Park by removing the most dangerous and active gang members. Officials hope that as members plead or are found guilty, they can not only send them away but include conditions for post-prison releases that will bar them from the Orchard Park area for several years. Two of the men remain fugitives.

But an affidavit filed with the case states several dozen other gang associates remain on the streets. In the past, large-scale crackdowns have led to remaining members or other gangs trying to fill the vacuum. In this case ATF agents joined BPD detectives in the investigation in part to help figure out if the Orchard Park Trailblazers were trying to expand after another crackdown led to the arrests of more than 50 alleged members of the rival Columbia Point Dawgs in 2015.

The 13 alleged members of the Orchard Park Trailblazers and the Vine/Forest Gang, and one man with no prior known gang connections, swept up in the investigation collectively had criminal records that included hundreds of arrests, according to an affidavit by a BPD detective who worked on the two-year investigation. Several were already awaiting trial on other drug charges. One has already served time in a federal prison for drug dealing. Another was only recently released after serving a 10-year sentence for manslaughter; another has a record that includes several convictions for assault and battery.

In the middle of the investigation, police arrested one alleged Orchard Park member, Diamond Brito, after informants working with police bought 12 guns and 35 grams of crack from him. He pleaded guilty last fall and is currently serving an eight-year federal sentence.

The members were surrounded by violence, Det. Gregory Brown wrote. Ten of the arrested men had themselves been shot or stabbed - one three times. One allegedly sold crack out of the wheelchair to which he'd been confined since being shot in 2001. One won't be tried with the others - he's been deported to his native Dominican Republic. A fourteenth person targeted by the investigation won't come to trial because he fatally overdosed before he could be arrested.

According to Brown, the gangs had such easy run of the Orchard Park and the older Orchard Gardens area that informants who had never been there before were able to buy drugs just by going up to guys and asking if they were dealing. And because of them, the development remained a high-crime area in a city where rates of crime have dropped over the past decade.

Between January of 2015, the development has seen 11 shootings - one fatal - 18 firearms arrests, 80 drug arrests and 51 robberies. But these numbers may underestimate the problem in the development, Brown wrote.

Brown wrote that part of the problem is the development's layout - a dense area of buildings clustered around numerous short dead ends, making surveillance difficult. And part of the problem, he wrote, was that once the gangs had established themselves on its streets, many residents grew fearful of contacting police because they knew they couldn't avoid the gang members.

Those charged:

• Daiquan Lucas, a/k/a "Sav Montana," 24, alleged member of Vine/Forest Street;
• Jeremiah Mines, a/k/a "Germ Gee," "Jerm," 24, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers;
• Andre Parham-Rankin, a/k/a "Chuck," 21, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers;
• Lyndon Scott, a/k/a "L-Dot," "L-Scott," "Skizzy," 27, of Brockton, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers;
• Keon Smith, 38, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers;
• Kevin Woods, 26, alleged member of Vine/Forest Street.
• Raymond Gaines, a/k/a "Hops," 38, of Brockton, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers;
• Jaylin Hawkins, a/k/a "Rocko," "Jay-Roc," "Lil Bro," 23, alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers.
• Raul Williams, a/k/a "Boobie," 26, of Boston, an alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers, was previously charged by the state.
• Jose Quinones, a/k/a "Julio," 24, also an alleged member of Orchard Park Trailblazers, was previously charged with being an alien in possession of a firearm and distribution of cocaine base and has been deported to the Dominican Republic.

Diamond Brito pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges last fall; is currently in federal custody.

Innocent, etc.

Affidavit in the case (1.6M PDF).
Map showing crime concentration focused on Orchard Park (1.7M PDF).
Surveillance photos (3M PDF).