Orchard Park Trailblazers

Last updated
Orchard Park Trailblazers
FoundedLate-1980s
Founding location Boston, Massachusetts
Years active1980s–present
Territory United States of America, Massachusetts, Boston
EthnicityPrimarily African American
Membership (est.)50+
Criminal activitiesDrug trafficking, robbery and murder
AlliesMission Hill
Rivals Columbia Point Dawgs, H Block, Dudley Park, Mt. Pleasant, Ruggles Street

The Orchard Park Trailblazers is a street gang in the Roxbury area of Boston. The gang was mostly active in the early 1990s and became infamous for violence. [1] They are bitter rivals of the Columbia Point Dawgs. Both gangs have been feuding on the streets of Boston for nearly 30 years. [2]

Contents

History

The Orchard Park Trailblazers originated in the former Orchard Park Projects in the 1970s. It was not until the late-1980s that the gang began to participate in criminal activities such as robbery and drug trafficking. The Boston Police Department began to track the Trailblazers in the early-1990s and cracked down on the gang in the mid-2000s. [3]

1997 indictment

On April 11, 1997, fourteen members of the Orchard Park Trailblazers were charged in federal criminal complaints with conspiring to distribute and distributing crack cocaine. Two additional members of the gang were charged with state drug offenses. The sixteen defendants were arrested in a coordinated series of raids in Roxbury and Dorchester by federal, state, and local law enforcement. [4]

2004 raid

On June 23, 2004, 15 Trailblazers were arrested and charged after a 24-hour raid. All of the men were charged and sent to prison. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuestra Familia</span> Criminal organization of Mexican American prison gangs in the US

Nuestra Familia is a criminal organization of Mexican American (Chicano) prison gangs with origins in Northern California. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be foot soldiers of Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño. Some law enforcement agents speculate that the Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteño gang members in California. The gang's main sources of income are distributing cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine within prison systems as well as in the community and extorting drug distributors on the streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin Kings (gang)</span> Hispanic and Latino street gang based in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is one of the largest Caribbean and Latino street and prison gangs worldwide. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954.

The Supreme Team was an organized crime syndicate that operated throughout the 1980s in New York City. Their headquarters was in Baisley Park, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York. The leaders were Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and his nephew, Gerald "Prince" Miller. In 1989, McGriff spent 10 years in a federal prison for a narcotics conviction.

The Almighty Saints is a street gang founded in the early 1960s by Polish youth at Davis Square Park in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago, but later was largely made up of Hispanics due to the change in the community's ethnic makeup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DLASTHR</span> Australian crime gang

DLASTHR is an Assyrian criminal organization that is active in the south western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The group is said to have originated from another gang, called the Assyrian Kings. The crime gang was formed by Raymon Youmaran who is now serving a 17-year sentence for the murder of Dimitri DeBaz in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MS-13</span> Transnational criminal gang

Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a long time rivalry with the 18th Street gang.

Timothy A. Connolly III, aka "Timmy Connolly" and "TC", was an American former South Boston bar owner and mortgage broker, who wore a wire inside the infamous Winter Hill Gang and helped the federal government indict their two leaders, James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen Flemmi. The public was led to believe that Tim Connolly was merely a businessman and an innocent victim of one of Jim Bulger's many extortions. But in truth, Tim Connolly was secretly a "made member" of the Winter Hill gang and a high ranking lieutenant in this Bulger crime family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highwaymen Motorcycle Club</span> Motorcycle club

The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club. The club was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. The club has undergone a number of large-scale police and FBI investigations, most notably in 1973, 1987 and 2007. In the early 1970s several members were convicted of bombings and raids of the homes and the clubhouses of rival motorcycle clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sureños</span> Coalition of Mexican-American street gangs

Sureños ‍, also known as Southern United Raza, Sur 13 or Sureños X3, are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in U.S. state and federal correctional facilities. Many Sureño gangs have rivalries with one another, and the only time this rivalry is set aside is when they enter the prison system. Thus, fighting is common among different Sureño gangs even though they share the same common identity. Sureños have emerged as a national gang in the United States.

Operation Power Outage was a sting operation targeted at arresting and indicting members of the criminal group Armenian Power operating in the United States. The group is accused of racketeering offenses, bank fraud schemes, kidnappings, and drug trafficking. Armenian Power which originated 20 years ago in East Hollywood and has over 200 members, has developed from a street gang into an international criminal organization.

The Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips are a faction, or "set", of the Crips alliance of street gangs. The gang was formed by Belizean American Crips who had moved from South Los Angeles to Belize and then to Harlem, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia Point Dawgs</span> U.S. criminal organization and street gang

Columbia Point Dawgs, also called CPD, is a criminal organization and street gang located in Boston. They are involved in murder, drug trafficking and violence. Columbia Point Dawgs are known to wear the Philadelphia Phillies logo or Pittsburgh Pirates hats. Known for driving expensive vehicles and spending an abundance of money at clubs venues and having one of the biggest drug operations in New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Southern Tempest</span>

Project Southern Tempest was a major U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation conducted between December 2010 and February 2011 targeting transnational street gang members with ties to drug cartels in Mexico, as part of the ongoing law enforcement initiative known as Operation Community Shield.

Orchard Park, also known as "Home of New Edition," was one of Boston's most notorious housing projects, located in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It is also the former home of singer Bobby Brown and New Edition members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ralph Tresvant. The 350-unit three-story brick complex was built in 1941 and was demolished in 1998 due to crime problems.

The Lenox Street Boys also known as the "Lenox Street Cardinals" are one of the oldest and most dangerous street gangs in Boston, Massachusetts. The gang originated in the Lenox Street Projects in the Tremont section of Roxbury, Boston. The gang has been visible on Boston Police's radar since the mid-1980s as they terrorized local stores and civilians. They were also among the only gang to feud with New York–based drug gangs associated with drug lord Darryl Whiting.

Los Solidos is a street gang started in the early 1990s and based in Hartford, Connecticut. The gang also operates in other northeastern cities e.g. Springfield, Massachusetts.

The D-Block Boys, also known as DBG or Dipset, is an African-American drug ring operating in Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana. The gang has been involved in criminal activity including drug trafficking and murder. According to NOPD, The "D-Block Gang" has a history of violations, along with involvement in violent crimes. This gang is not to be confused with the Dumaine Street Gang operating out of the 6th Ward of New Orleans, which is also called D'Block.

The 10th & Oregon Crew, or 10th & O Gang, is a predominantly Italian American gang and organized crime group operating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Active since the 1960s, the gang is associated closely with but independent from the Italian-American Philadelphia crime family. It is primarily active in South Philadelphia and certain working-class Italian-American neighborhoods in nearby South Jersey.

The Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club are a multiracial one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club. Although they are active nationwide in the United States, they are primarily based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With chapters in at least 25 states across the US, the group claims to be the country's largest mixed-race outlaw motorcycle club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandidos MC criminal allegations and incidents in the United States</span>

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club has been designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the U.S. Department of Justice. The club is involved in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, explosives violations, motorcycle and motorcycle-parts theft, intimidation, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, stolen property, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, murder, bombings, extortion, arson and assault. The Bandidos partake in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana, and the production, transportation and distribution of methamphetamine. Active primarily in the Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern and the West Central regions, there are an estimated 800 to 1,000 Bandidos members and 93 chapters in 16 U.S. states.

References

  1. "Sporting Death". dailypress.com.
  2. Zalkind, Susan (24 June 2015). "Boston Stops the Turf War That Almost Killed Bobby Brown". The Daily Beast.
  3. "WAYNE W., a juvenile, COMMONWEALTH vs., 414 Mass. 218". masscases.com.
  4. "16 Members of the 'Orchard Park Trailblazers' Face Federal and State Drug Charges, Announces U.S. Attorney". U.S. Attorney's Office via prnewswire.com.
  5. "Raid hits '24-hour' drug ring". Boston.com.