Dozens Charged in Miami Drug Crackdown
Federal and city law enforcement agencies announced Wednesday that they had dismantled four drug gangs as part of a crackdown to fight drug-related violence in Miami.
As part of “Operation Lightning Bolt,” the agencies have charged about 60 people in the Overtown and Liberty City areas of Miami-Dade with drug trafficking, federal firearms violations and related crimes, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Authorities have also seized about $60,000 in drug money, 515 grams of crack cocaine, 700 grams of powder cocaine and weapons that include an AK-47, an Uzi and a sawed-off shotgun.
U.S. Atty. R. Alexander Acosta said the seizures were not the focus of the operation. The purpose was to “sap the violence” the gangs cause in their neighborhoods, he said.
Acosta said many of those charged had already been convicted of state crimes such as attempted murder.
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