Politics & Government

Norwood Man Arrested in Boston Gang Member Sting

Thirty gang members were arrested in Dorchester and Roxbury early Thursday morning as part of a large-scale collaborative investigation into the violence and distribution of drugs the area.

Thirty Boston gang members - including a 30-year-old Norwood man - were arrested and charged Thursday in Operation Concord, a large-scale collaborative investigation into violence and distribution of drugs by the Woodward Avenue and Hendry Street gangs and their associates who terrorized the residents in Bowdoin-Geneva section of Dorchester and the Uphams Corner section of Roxbury, a release from the U.S. District Attorney's office said.

Over 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers were involved in the operation.

“This community has been in desperate need of reprieve from the violence. We hope the arrests and prosecution of the defendants will quiet the streets and improve the quality of life for all residents,” said United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz in the release.

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O'Neil Taylor, of Norwood, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Twenty-seven of those arrested are from the Boston area, one is from California and one from Maine.

According to the release:

Find out what's happening in Norwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As stated in court documents, the investigation, which involved controlled drug purchases, surveillance, and a wiretap, began in the summer of 2011. It is alleged that the defendants have been involved in gang, gun and drug activity in the Bowdoin-Geneva corridor or other areas of Dorchester and Roxbury at the direction of Alexis Hidalgo, 31, of Dorchester, and Jonathan DaSilva, 29, of Roxbury. Wiretap evidence was a crucial component of the investigation and provided investigators with information regarding the alleged partnership between Hidalgo, alleged leader of the Hendry Street gang, and DaSilva, alleged leader of the Woodward Avenue gang.

Hidalgo and DaSilva are alleged to be responsible for the distribution of kilos of crack cocaine, thousands of oxycodone pills throughout greater Boston, as well as hundreds of pounds of marijuana which they branded as high-grade and sold for up to $5,200 a pound. In a wiretap recording, a “mother-load” shipment of drugs was described in a call intercepted between Hidalgo and his associate. It is alleged that Hidalgo responded by saying, “You just got us indicted bro. If they are listening, I sell weed man.”

Read the full text of the release here.


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