DOJ announces 81 alleged gang members indicted after Puerto Rico drug trafficking takedown

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday the indictments of 81 alleged members of Los Baja Deo, or LBD, a Puerto Rican-based drug trafficking organization.On Wednesday, the FBI and the Puerto Rico Police Department arrested 70 alleged LBD members on numerous charges.LBD has been active for years throughout the western side of the U.S.

territory, Blanche said.The indictments charged the suspects with drug possession and distribution in connection to activities prosecutors said began in 2021.Blanche said 21 of the defendants were also charged with illegal firearms possession.They allegedly distributed "mass quantities" of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and marijuana, which generated $49 million in proceeds, Blanche said.Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks before President Donald Trump at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence on Aug.

14, 2026, in Garden City, New York.(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)WATCH: BLACK HAWK ASSISTS TAKEDOWN OF MASSIVE COCAINE HAUL OFF COAST OF PUERTO RICOBlanche said the defendants "maintained a steady supply of highly addictive and potentially lethal substances that endangered the community, fueled addiction and exposed entire public housing projects in Mayagüez and nearby neighborhoods to violence and chaos."The takedown of the 70 alleged LBD members took place following a San Juan Homeland Security Task Force investigation, according to the attorney general.Blanche called this "a great example of the success" Homeland Security has had in "combating violent crime and the illegal flow of narcotics.""If there's additional co-conspirators or members of this organization that have not been charged, I promise you that this investigation doesn't stop stop because an indictment is returned," Blanche said.

"We'll find out.And if I were them, I would probably not be sleeping well tonight."Police arrest Eduardo Gomez, alias "Gordo Paul", a leader of Los Lobos drug trafficking group, during a curfew imposed by Ecu...