Seventeen members of a Bronx gang have been indicted on federal charges of running a sophisticated operation that charged drug dealers rent to be allowed to sell heroin on street corners. Prosecutors say that since 1977, the gang has controlled drug trafficking in a small area of the Bronx by strictly enforcing where and during what hours a dealer could sell drugs. Authorities say that those who did not abide by the rules were tortured or killed. Some dealers paid a commission, and as their profits increased so did the rent they paid. Other dealers paid a flat fee, which averaged a few thousand a week, according to authorities.
Prosecutors say that some of the gang's control was gained through gestures to the community.
Dealers were strictly forbidden to sell when children were on the way to and from school. The gang also imposed limits on the number of customers that could congregate on a corner at any one time. The arrest of gang members has led to turf battles as others seek to fill the power vacuum left by the gang's absence. Inexplicably, prices for drugs have not fallen since the break up of the gang.