A seven-month investigation has led to 32 arrests and 565 criminal charges against a violent drug gang with operations throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area, authorities said.

Phoenix police said the gang was based mainly in west-central Phoenix and most of the arrests took place there, but at least one person was arrested in Gilbert.

The investigation began in August, when agents from the FBI teamed up with the Phoenix Police Department, Arizona Department of Public Safety and other agencies to target the suspected illegal enterprise.

Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale police departments, the state Department of Corrections and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also were brought in.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office secured the 134-page indictment from a state grand jury, paving the way for the arrests to begin Wednesday.

The people arrested were being held in lieu of bail amounts ranging from $80,000 to $1.2 million, authorities said.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 12:02 am and is filed under Local, Special. Tags for this post: Arizona, Breaking News, Crime/Safety, Local-Crime/Safety, Local-Crime/Safety-Arizona, page-a17, Special-Breaking News, The Associated Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.