Texas Indictment Targets Gang Members

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) _ An 11-count indictment unsealed Thursday says 17 members of a violent gang face drugs and weapons charges.

Authorities say Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation committed gang-related killings in West Texas.

The suspects are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana.

Three of the defendants were also charged with conspiring to deal in firearms.

A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the indictment also includes drug distribution charges and various firearms charges, including using and carrying a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

Four of the 17 were arrested this week in Midland, Big Spring, Mission, Texas and Chicago.

Eleven suspects were already in federal or state custody on related and unrelated charges and two remain at large.

The defendants were scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Abilene on Friday.

The indictment was returned earlier this month by a federal grand jury in Lubbock.

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