Federal law enforcement agencies and D.C. police arrested 12 members of what investigators called a violent drug-trafficking organization.
Since 2021, the Kennedy Street Crew (KDY) was behind 19 shootings and seven murders along a stretch of Kennedy Street NW between 1st Street and 12th Street, police said.
Twelve of its members face federal charges for drug and gun trafficking.
“In connection with this investigation, we have seized over 400 grams of fentanyl, approximately one kilogram of cocaine, over 100 kilograms of marijuana, and more than 40 firearms, including eight suspected machine guns,” D.C. U.S. Attorney Matt Graves said.
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They are also accused of creating shell companies to launder money.
KDY had been working the streets of Ward 4 but were branching out to other areas as well, moving large amounts of guns and drugs, police said.
Interim D.C. Police Chief Ashan Benedict said the Violent Crime Impact Team was responsible for the takedown. The unit started two years ago includes D.C. police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and explosives; the Drug Enforcement Agency; the FBI; and the IRS.
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“If an IRS criminal investigator is part of this case, you know you really tripped up, because they’re not really looking at nickel and dime investigations,” Benedict said. “They’re here because the Kennedy Street Crew is not some corner crew. This is an organized criminal organization, and it took a sophisticated investigative effort to bring them down.”
The drugs confiscated had a street value of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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