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0-19 (Hev 4-26-83, Eaoc AC sqm Enoc AD Ine ne Esoc AS GES Mast Ou. dam Servs Com tae ‘L.A. Gang Member’s® Arrest Concerns Police — Lee bege' Corr ON Come & Povie alig Rec. wg Mines was arrested after a te) Sone sealed, five-count indictment was Teaming handed down by a federal grand By Paul W. Valentine Washington Post Staff Writer Telephone Be Derector's boe'y w BALTIMORE, Sept. 26—An al- jury here last week charging him leged member of a notorious Los Angeles street gang called the Crips was arrested here today on <weapons charges, fueling specula- tion among federal agents that the with acquiring firearms with false identification and illegally possess- ing firearms as a convicted felon. The charges carry a maximum sen- tence of 25 years’ imprisonment . 10,000-member gang has extended and $1.25 million in fines upon con- its drug network to the Washing- viction. ton-Baitimore area. Eiseriberg said additional charges Agents said they arrested Ar- mando Eugene Mines, 25, as he en- tered a city court to answer a local assault charge. At the same time, . Other agents searched his recently rented suburban Baltimore apart- ment and confiscated 2.5 pounds of suspected cocaine, a semiautomatic rifle, $10,000 in cash and cocaine- packaging equipment, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey E. Eisenberg. An affidavit filed by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in federal court identified Mines as a member of the Crips -gang, one of several Jarge, increas- ingly violent gangs in the Los An- " geles area where California author- ities say more than 380 people were killed last year in feuds over ' drug customers and territory. Law enforcement officials say the Crips and a rival gang called the Bloods have extended their net- works into other cities such as Seat- tle, Toronto and Kansas City. To- day’s arrest of Mines here marked the first tangible presence of the Crips in the Washington-Baltimore area, officials said. They would not say whether oth- er Crips members are in the area but said their investigation is con- tinuing. The federal affidavit indi- cated agents had Mines under pe- riodic surveillance for several months. ; _and gangland-style homicides in the “He was distributing drugs at Los Angeles area, along with in- _ The Chicago Tribune least for himself ... if not as an creased competition for the drug The Los Angeles Times arm of the gang,” Eisenberg told re- against Mines are expected. Mines is being held in custody pending a detention hearing Wednesday. Prosecutors, citing what they say is Mines’ dangerousness and likeli- hood of flight, want him held with- out bail until trial. According to the federal affidavit, agents traced Mines to the Crips af- ter city police arrested him in June on a charge of assault with a hand- gun and seized a. 9mm semiauto- matic pistol from him that he had purchased from a Baltimore gun dealer using the name of his broth- er, Robert Edwards Mines Jr. of Los Angeles. He also had purchased a .44-caliber revolver in March from the same dealer, the affidavit said. He was released on bond in the assault case. Through fingerprint analysis, the affidavit said, agents determined the identity of Armando Mines and learned from California authorities that he was a “documented” mem- ber of the Los Angeles neighbor- hood branch of the Crips called the Santana Block Crips. He also had a 1983 burglary conviction on his record, agents said. The affidavit said the Crips have about 10,000 members in the Los Angeles area and are divided into loose “sets” or groups identified by local street names or landmarks. A “recent wave ... of shootings dollar and the accompanying law Tre Crnsnan Science Monitor The Washington Post r if The Washington Times Daily News (New York) The New York Trnes The Wa!! Street Joums! —_—_— porters. He said he did not know — enforcement response, have driven USA Toe whether the suspected cocaine gang members to expand or relo- y seized at Mines’ apartment came cate their drug trafficking,” the af- from Los Angeles. fidavit said. ys OC C Dete é Ct Y Page | vi #9. D0.