More than a dozen men were arraigned Monday on a variety of drugs and weapons charges as part of a countywide investigation into the West Coast Crips criminal organization.
Sixteen defendants entered initial pleas of not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to charges that prosecutors allege made them part of a criminal organization that spanned from Logan Heights to El Cajon.
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy announced the arrests while explaining the hierarchy of the West Coast Crips street gang.
Prosecutors claim there are Original Gangers or "OG's", senior members or "homies" and new members or "babies."
At today's group arraignment, defendants faced charges ranging from possession of methamphetamine for sale and transportation of marijuana to the sale of a semi-automatic weapon to a convicted felon.
Court complaints against 55 alleged gang members and associates describe an increasingly sophisticated and violent criminal operation operated throughout San Diego that included revenge killings, student drug mules and even selfies at a murder site.
Nineteen suspects were arraigned Friday in federal court on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and carrying a firearm during drug trafficking crime.
