New Jersey street gang members charged with plot to murder FBI agent

NEWARK (WABC) -- Authorities say they have busted a New Jersey criminal street gang.

71 people were charged after a long-running federal, state and local investigation into the New Jersey set of the Grape Street Crips gang.

The charges include drug distribution, weapons offenses, and a plot to murder an FBI agent.

Numerous members of the gang are facing charges.

A member of the gang was charged with attempting to put a hit on an FBI agent.

Corey Batts was one of many members of the gang's New Jersey sect charged with drug distribution and weapons offenses.

Batts, who holds a rank of "G" or "Gangsta," authorities say, was charged with plotting to kill the agent while behind bars at the Hudson County Corrections Center.

While in the prison library, he isolated images of the FBI agent from CDs of evidence that he obtained during his trial discovery, according to investigators.

He allegedly sent the CDs to his "cousin," but- despite Batts best efforts to avoid detection -- they were intercepted by law enforcement.

Prosecutors say the gang is responsible for violence and wide-spread drug-trafficking in the northern New Jersey.

The gang members are accused of actively controlling drug-trafficking and other illegal activities in various neighborhoods and public-housing complexes in Newark.

"As this investigation demonstrates, the New Jersey Grape Street Crips are allegedly one of the largest and most dangerous street gangs in Newark as well as a prolific narcotics trafficking organization that floods the streets New Jersey with heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. "The narcotics activities that the gang and its associates allegedly engage in directly affect the quality of life of law-abiding citizens who reside in cities and suburbs of northern New Jersey."

"This criminal gang used violence and intimidation to maintain their drug enterprise in Newark," Carl J. Kotowski, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey Division said. "The residents of Newark can be assured that the DEA will continue to pursue those people and organizations that cause them to live in fear."

Authorities say the Grape Street Crips are a nationwide street gang, founded in Los Angeles, California, and operating in New Jersey. In addition to engaging in drug-trafficking and other criminal activities to enrich themselves and fellow gang-members, the rules governing the gang provide that members must retaliate against individuals who cooperate with law enforcement, according to investigators.

As a result, gang members routinely engage in acts of intimidation and violence against witnesses, individuals who are believed to be cooperating with law enforcement, and law enforcement officers themselves.