A federal grand jury indicted 11 members of a Minneapolis street gang called Lows on charges that include murder, conspiracy and drug trafficking. Some of the alleged gang members have been charged for their role in connection with even shootings that killed five people, the Associated Press reports. Five people have been charged with firearm murder, while all 11 defendants were charged with conspiracy. The charges come in a federal crackdown started last year that has ensnared dozens of members or associates of several Minneapolis gangs. Some 90 people have been charged with gang-related offenses. The alleged members of the Lows gang also stand accused of trafficking fentanyl and possessing illegal guns.
“The Lows are an exceptionally violent criminal street gang that has terrorized north Minneapolis for nearly 20 years. Through threats and violence — shootings and murders — the Lows gang has long sought to establish dominion over large swaths of our city,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. His office has targeted gangs around the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Instead of RICO cases, gang crimes in Minnesota were traditionally prosecuted on an individual basis, Luger said. In recent years, his office shifted its approach and began building cases against the criminal organizations to which individual gang members belong. ,
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