9237092898?profile=originalBy Gangsters Inc. Editors

Fifteen members and associates of the Bloods were charged on Wednesday with trafficking crack cocaine throughout Long Island. Three separate indictments were unsealed in federal court in Central Islip charging 12 defendants as part of a coordinated federal and state takedown of several large-scale crack cocaine distribution operations in various areas of the East End of Long Island. 

In addition, one defendant was charged in a complaint with possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and possession of crack cocaine. Two additional defendants were arrested on related New York state drug charges by members of the East End Drug Task Force. Three federal defendants remain fugitives.

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According to prosecutors, in early 2018, members of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force and the Suffolk County East End Drug Task Force began conducting an investigation into street gangs and narcotics traffickers operating in and around Riverhead. 

The defendants, many of whom were members or associates of the Bloods street gang, were involved in the large-scale distribution of crack cocaine. Several of them would allegedly “cook” powder cocaine into crack cocaine, to increase its potency and street value. 

In one instance, while a defendant was cooking cocaine, a child was present in the residence.  Members of law enforcement executed search warrants at multiple locations Wednesday, recovering seven firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, three kilograms of cocaine, four pounds of marijuana, a quantity of crack cocaine and heroin and $10,000 in cash.

Below is a list of the defendants:

  • 39-year-old Terrill Latney (also known as “Motis” and “Mo”)
  • 36-year-old Romaine Hopkins (also known as “Foo”)
  • 43-year-old Matthew Pittma (also known as “Pearl”)
  • 31-year-old Kenneth Belcher (also known as “KB”)
  • 36-year-old Kotarra Jackson (also known as “Red”)
  • 37-year-old John Gamble (also known as “Bones”)
  • 33-year-old Randy Smith
  • 22-year-old Deon Shorter
  • 29-year-old Tramaine Brown (also known as “Bootsie”)
  • 34-year-old Quandol Lewis
  • 34-year-old Demario Weston (also known as “MK”)
  • 35-year-old Dayna Barrow (also known as “SI”)
  • 25-year-old Daniel Harris

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