CHICAGO — A federal indictment unsealed today charges 13 alleged leaders, members, and associates of the Wicked Town faction of the Traveling Vice Lords street gang with participating in a criminal organization that murdered rivals and violently protected a drug-dealing operation on the West Side of Chicago.

The indictment alleges that the Wicked Town faction engaged in numerous acts of violence, including at least 19 murders, 19 attempted murders, several armed robberies, and assaults. The gang used threats and intimidation to prevent victims and witnesses from cooperating with law enforcement, the charges allege. Wicked Town members regularly promoted their violent enterprise on social media, posting comments, photos, and videos to proclaim membership in the gang, taunt rival gang members, and boast about murders and other acts of violence, the indictment states. The gang operated primarily in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, where members allegedly maintained “trap houses” to store firearms and illegal narcotics, including cocaine and heroin.

During the course of the multi-year probe, law enforcement seized 46 firearms, approximately 1,000 rounds of ammunition, approximately 17 kilograms of cocaine, approximately seven kilograms of heroin, and approximately 100 grams of crack cocaine.

http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr...RAB&usg=AOvVaw2GiPmLRsVQBg_QQKrPTFw4