Police have rounded up five ringleaders from Greeley’s notorious 18th Street Gang, which is allegedly responsible for a crime wave that’s left many residents cowering in fear. “If you can imagine it, this gang has probably been involved in it,” says Greeley police chief Jerry Garner (7News). The investigation began three years ago and utilized the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, or COCCA (Denver Post).

The five men have been indicted by a Weld County grand jury for racketeering, and each suspect faces additional charges, such as witness/victim intimidation, burglary, and robbery (Greeley Tribune). Garner likens the arrests to pruning a garden: “You can pull out the tallest, biggest weeds, but you know there are other weeds, hidden in their shadow, who will attempt to take over. “