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Armando Martinez
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Miami Herald, The (FL)
June 25, 1997
POLICE GANG UP ON STREET `THUGS' AMONG CHARGES: MURDER, DRUGS
Author: JOHN LANTIGUA Herald Staff Writer
One of the biggest street gangs in Miami is no more, police say.
Investigators said Tuesday they had broken up the 10th Street Thugs, a Little Havana gang they
say is responsible for at least two murders, attempted murders, kidnapping, armed robberies and
drug dealing. The arrest of 23 gang members on the street and in residences began June 6 and
followed a one-year investigation, said Lt. Armando Martinez, who headed the sweep. Those
arrested range in age from 14 to 26, but no names were revealed. Martinez said laws that apply
to organized crime -- called RICO statutes for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations --
will be used to prosecute at least the adults in the case. ``They're looking at time in both the state
and federal systems,'' Martinez said. ``Heavy time.''
Martinez said that in April 1996, investigators noticed for the first time the 10th Street Thugs'
``tag'' spray-painted on local buildings -- a Roman numeral ``X,'' which stands for 10. By June,
the investigation was under way, including the use of undercover police.
The gang was based a block from 10th Street in a grimy, beige stucco duplex at 1775 SW Ninth
St. The gate was padlocked Tuesday, the house empty. On its second floor, boards could be seen
behind the windows, apparently to protect against drive-by shootings. Neighbors said gunfire
from rival gangs was frequent in the past two years.
``Cars coming by and strafing the house -- that was a common thing,'' said Maria Sanchez, 23,
who lives with relatives, including her daughter Aimee, 1, next door. She pointed at a rusted
bullet hole in the left front fender of her blue Buick. That happened, she said, during one of those
strafings.
``They always came at night, sometimes a few times a month,'' she said. ``The people in that
house never did anything to us, but it has been very scary to live here, especially with a baby.''
Esperanza Ballester, 40, who lives in the same unit as Sanchez, said windows in the family car
were shot out twice. She pointed to a bullet hole in a palm tree on the property.
``We used to sit inside at the top of the stairs, where we figured it was safest,'' she said. ``These
weren't just a couple of shots. They were a lot. I ended up spending almost all my time inside,
because I was afraid for me and my children.
``A policeman said to me a year ago that we should move, because what was going on next door
wasn't good,'' she said. ``But we couldn't afford it.''
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