Sixteen more
members of the Atlanta based gang The Black Mafia Family (BMF) were
indicted yesterday (July 25) for participating in a nationwide cocaine
distribution.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
federal authorities claim BMF engaged in violence and trafficked
thousands of pounds of cocaine, earning the gang over $270 million.

The
gang gained notoriety by flaunting their diamonds, holding extravagant
parties, and rubbing shoulders with various rappers, including Young Jeezy, while trying to develop a record label.

BMF’s leaders, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, along with seven other members were indicted and arrested on drug trafficking in October 2005.

Federal
authorities say the Flenory brothers went from selling $50 bags of
crack in high schools throughout southwest Detroit in the mid-1980s to
masterminding a criminal enterprise operating in eleven states. “The
government is one step closer to eradicating one of today’s most
violent and notorious drug trafficking organizations,” said DEA Special
Agent, Rodney G. Benson. “The Black Mafia Family
wreaked havoc from coast to coast. Their bold image and in-your-face
reputation once propelled them into the media spotlight. Today, we are
proud to cast an ominous cloud over this once-thriving criminal
network.”

The indictment charges carry a penalty of between 10 years and life in prison and up to a $4 million fine. “The Black Mafia Family once had billboards towering over Atlanta boldly proclaiming that the world was theirs,” U.S. Attorney David Nahmias told The Journal.
“This indictment is a rejection of that claim. First in Detroit and
Orlando, and now here, the government is shutting down the BMF’s
once-flourishing drug empire.”

Federal authorities are still searching for several associates whose names were blacked out on the indictment.