WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Authorities in South Florida have arrested 18 people and are searching for one more in connection with a longtime racketeering, drug dealing and weapons probe dubbed “Operation Goodfellas.”
According to WPEC-TV, West Palm Beach police announced Tuesday that the 19 suspects were formally charged Feb. 6 with crimes ranging from racketeering to attempted murder following the 18-month investigation, which focused on reports of gang activity near Fourth Street and Tamarind Avenue. A group known as the Fourth Street Gang has operated there for 15 years, police told WPBF.
“The message is clear to those who think they can run their drug dealing and illegal activity in our city. We know who you are, and we will put you out of business,” police Chief Frank Adderley said in a statement posted to the department’s Facebook page. “We are a city that is only getting safer through stratified policing, effective community policing and engagement with our neighbors.”
The suspects, which include one minor, face a combined 3,000 years in prison if convicted, the department wrote in another Facebook post.
Several local and federal law enforcement agencies assisted the department’s Organized Crime Section with the investigation, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office; and the Delray Beach Police Department, according to the post.