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Feds say they've busted up a Dorchester gang that murdered and shot its way through war with rivals when not hustling to sell crack, pot and guns

One of the arrests by an armor-plated ATF agent

Alleged gang member taken in by ATF this morning. Photo by Live Boston.

A federal judge today unsealed an indictment charging 19 alleged members of the Dorchester-based Cameron Street gang with a variety of RICO violations dating to 2010 that include one murder, 33 attempted murders, 17 armed robberies, 19 unarmed robberies, including home invasions, one carjacking and selling crack, marijuana and guns.

Most of the alleged members were rounded up today by ATF agents and BPD officers, although alleged ringleader Kenny Romero has been in custody since last November, according to the indictment that details the activities of a gang the feds say have been terrorizing the Bowdoin/Geneva neighborhood for decades - often as part of a war with its rivals over on Wendover Street, sometimes called NOB (Norton/Olney/Barry), many of whose members were themselves rounded up two years ago.

Even when not shooting or beating people, members attempted to intimidate Wendover members, the public and law enforcement, the indictment says. It points to an incident on Dec. 9, 2019, when gang member Paulo "Bucky" Santos robbed a Wendover member right outside Dorchester District Court. In another incident, a Cameron Street member, Jose "Zay" Fonseca, tried to ram a police officer with his car after the cop spotted him in an apparent drug sale.

The feds charge the gang brought in large amounts of marijuana from California and made sure members had ready access to guns and ammo. On Feb. 26 of this year, alleged member Felisberto "CheeB" Lopes was arrested while in possession of 446 rounds of different types of ammunition, along with 500 grams of cocaine.

Fortunately, they proved to be poor shots - most of the people they fired at survived.

Gang members didn't just confine themselves to Bowdoin/Geneva. The indictment charges they sold drugs in Everett, Somerville, Quincy, Braintree, Hingham and even San Francisco - usually while armed.

The affidavit states Cameron Street members refer to the gang with names such as Cam, Camily, Killa Cam and Body Bag Boys and that members often get tattoos or wear sports caps featuring the letter "C" including for the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Calgary Flames and the Canadiens. Some, though, wear Kansas City Royals caps, "meant to signify 'Killa Cam."

Members can also be spotted wearing jewelry marked with "3-1-1-3" in references to the third, first and thirteenth letters of the alphabet (C, A and M). Or they signal to each other by showing three fingers (for "C").

Those charged:

  • Kenny Romero, a/k/a "KG," 28, charged with RICO conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession with intent to distirbute cocaine, distribution of cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Anthony Centeio, a/k/a "Wheezy," a/k/a "Taliban Wheeze," 33, charged with RICO conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Felisberto Lopes, a/k/a "Phil," a/k/a "CheeB," 36, charged with RICO conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of 500 grams or more of cocaine with intent to distribute;
  • Keiarri Dyette, a/k/a "Kemo," 24, charged with RICO conspiracy and dealing in firearms without a license;
  • Eric Correia, a/k/a "Bubba," 24, charged with RICO conspiracy and distribution of marijuana;
  • Paulo Santos, a/k/a "Bucky," 33, charged with RICO conspiracy, possession of 500 grams or more of cocaine with intent to distribute, felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense;
  • Devante Lopes, a/k/a "D-Lopes," 27, charged with RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute marijuana;
  • Charod Taylor, a/k/a "Pachino," 33, charged with RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to distirbute cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Jose Afonseca, a/k/a "Zay," 30, charged with RICO conspiracy, dealing in firearms without a license, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine base;
  • James Rodrigues, a/k/a "Bummy," 32, charged with RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute cocaine base;
  • Jonathan Darosa, a/k/a "Jeezy," 29, charged with RICO conspiracy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and distribution of cocaine and oxycodon;
  • Clayton Rodrigues, a/k/a "Loo," a/k/a "C-Loo," 26, charged with RICO conspiracy and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number;
  • Wilter Rodrigues, a/k/a "Walt," a/k/a "Wo-Wo," 35, charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base;
  • Michael Lopes, a/k/a "Meech," 34, charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Victor Nunez, a/k/a "Tito," 41, charged with conspiracy to distirbute cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Fnu Lnu, a/k/a "Smoke," charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and cocaine;
  • Jamaal Davis, a/k/a "Marley," 29, charged with distribution of cocaine and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense;
  • Michael Nguyen, a/k/a "Asian," 22, charged with possession with intent to distirbute marijuana and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense; and
  • Steve Depina, a/k/a "Stizz," 35, charged with felon in possession of a firearm and distribution of cocaine base and cocaine.

Complete indictment (48M PDF).

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Comments

Amazing, ATF agents taking the lead over BPD.

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What is interesting is ATF taking the lead over the FBI.

But over the past decade, at least, the feds have always worked with BPD (and other local police) on large-scale gang investigations. It means more resources, especially when dealing with RICO (which is a federal law under which you have to do a lot of work to prove the existence of the organization at the heat of the ultimate prosecution), which means tougher sentences for people who plead/are found guilty and it means the bad guys get sent way, way out of state.

Meanwhile, don't forget that a lot of the work that leads up to and continues during the investigations is being done by BPD - many of the people indicted yesterday face felons-in-possession-of-a-gun charges, which only happened because they were arrested by BPD and then convicted in local courts. BPD knows these guys and who the players are and who the investigation should focus on, so it's not like the feds (ATF in this case) just waltz in and make arrests - it's really a team effort.

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My son has no criminal record at all. They did not find any guns, drugs or ammunition in my home. But let's talk about them having NO SEARCH WARRANT IN HAND WHEN THEY USED EXTREME FORCE TO ENTER MY RESIDENCE......I had to wait 20 minutes outside for whom ever to come with the warrant and they already busted in and was in my home. Let's talk about how they jumped on my 100 pd 15 yr old daughter put guns in her face and illegally threw handcuffs on her and dragged her outside. Let's talk about how I the mother was attacked by ATF guns in me and my 4 yr old sons face dragging me outside with no clothes on. It was not a no knock warrant....they did not knock or announce themselves before 6am... all illegal. Just for them to arrest 1 person that has no prior criminal record and not to find any GUNS OR ILLEGAL DRUGS.
MS.DYETTE

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These gangs would be a lot more powerful if they just joined resources … why do they waste time fighting ???

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They don't know better.

The world's a prison when you can't and don't travel a little bit.

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The Cameron gang is mainly Cape Verdean. Other local gangs aren't. A lot of the violence in Dot is one ethnic group pitting itself against another. If they 'joined forces', it would actually probably help bring some peace vs. creating some kind of super gang.

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Awesome great job.

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The cash flow to crack dealers may never reach the insane national flow leveos from its golden age but obviously it hasn't stopped. The addict has an insatiable appetite for it and the dealers have an insatiable appetite for the fast easy money . You can't stay up for days doing opioids.

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kg, wheezy, cheeB, kemo, bubba, bucky, d-lopes, pachino, zay, bummy, jeezy, c-loo, wo-wo, meech, tito, smoke, marley, asian and stizz could have avoided a lot of embarrassment and kept their names out of the news if they’d kept it simple and just broken into asian peoples houses in newton.

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we should make comparisons between a couple of guys who broke into houses and members of a criminal organization that commits murder and sells poison to those who cannot help themselves.

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Keep my boyz names out ya fuckin mouth!

Signed,

Fresh Prince Cammy

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Checks out.

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The reporting of their sentences

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The reporting of their sentences

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Mr ATF didn’t forget to kit out with NVGs for this daytime round up. Send some of that gear to Ukraine.

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So these guys just graduated, now they get to go into real prisons and come out even worse traumatized and messed up, after a few years of being tortured and stewing in confinement. Whew. Mission accomplished

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The moms of these fools reported they are all good boys and were just turning their lives around.

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Change the nature of gangs. The gangs serve social purposes of identity and belonging, just as churches and other social societies do. We're all human and have the same basic needs. Gangs satisfy the same need for being part of something larger. There is the problem of course of violence, drug addiction, murder.

Apparently however they are not big enough problems to stop the gangs from existing in the first place. So more are killed, more wind up in prison and everyone who the gangs reach is hurt.

What about:

Eliminate the profit motive of gangs? In the good old American tradition of following the money what would criminal gangs do if there was not financial profit in the first place? How? Legalize the drugs that are the sources of their profits.

We lost the war on drugs. Like Vietnam and Afghanistan and the Cold War it was another war that could not be won. I say the Cold War was not won because Putin is pushing for a new Cold War.

Use the medical and legal institutions to provide a way for people who are addicted or become addicted to manage their addiction until they reach the point where they are able to discontinue satisfying the addiction.

Drug addiction will happen. Although if it continued when drugs are legal is another question. But assuming that drug addiction also serves a purpose it makes far more sense to bring the world of drug addiction into a structure where it can be managed and do less damage.

Of course we could do the same for prostitution. But then that would might mean that the folks who enjoy profits from prostitution (the people who enslave girls and boys) would suffer from a lack of income.

Same goes for illegal drugs. What would happen to the folks who accumulate lots of cash and enjoy the benefits of tax free cash, both I the US and outside the US? What would happen to the institutions that actually benefit from the criminal element of drug use? What wold happen to politicians and police who would not be able to benefit from the chaos and destruction of criminality?

Legalize drugs and an entire industry would be devastated.

On the other hand, what would happen when the trillions spent on the war on drugs were spent on helping people out of addiction, on harm reduction, on actually building people up instead of tearing them down?

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Let the Libertarianism flow through you.

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