COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus police announced Wednesday that 21 people connected to a local gang have been apprehended in an effort to minimize criminal activity in certain parts of the city.
Those 21 people are part of the BL-800 gang, which detectives say stands for the 800 block of Wedgewood Drive where they were founded.
Detective Eric Clouse said tensions between this group of people and the Somali refugees on the north side of Columbus spilled into violence. Authorities say the gang rules areas on the city's west side and efforts to crack down on them came when police noticed an uptick in violence in the Southpark and Wedgewood apartment complexes.
The BL-800 investigation wasn't an easy one, police said, as their threats to victims often scared them away from talking to police on the case.
All 21 members that have been apprehended have either been charged, indicted or convicted of crimes that include participating in a criminal gang, trafficking in drugs, weapons under disability, theft, manslaughter and felonious assault among other charges.
Clouse said dealing with this gang is unlike anything he's dealt with before and that while they've put the higher-ranking individuals behind bars, there will be more rising up to take their places.
Police said that the BL-800 gang is just one piece of the puzzle and they expect more charges as their work continues to dismantle street gangs across the city.