FBI rounds up SIXTY members of the Latin Kings across East Coast including 'boss linked to Genovese crime family and who runs the gang like Cosa Nostra mafia outfit'
Gang leader Michael Cecchetelli, 40, was nabbed with others in Massachusetts
Police seized weapons, illegal drugs and cash, vehicles and three properties
The Latin Kings is currently the largest criminal gang in Massachusetts' prisons
By Ryan Fahey For Mailonline
Among those nabbed by police was head of the gang Michael Cecchetelli, a 40-year-old from Springfield, Massachusetts (pictured)
More than 60 members of the Latin Kings have been arrested on federal racketeering, drug and firearms charges, including the leaders of the street gang's East Coast operations, authorities announced Thursday.
Among those arrested is Michael Cecchetelli, a 40-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts, resident with ties to the Genovese crime family who ran the gang's operations from Massachusetts down to Florida, according to Joseph Bonavolonta, head of the FBI's Boston office.
Cecchetelli has blood ties to the Italian mob, the Genovese Crime Family based in New York, that also operates in Springfield.
'We believe, under Cecchetelli's leadership, the eastern region of the Latin Kings is currently structured, organized and run like La Cosa Nostra,' said FBI Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta.
He and other leaders ran the Kings with a Mafia-style hierarchy, including a council of leaders and as many as 11 chapters across Massachusetts alone, authorities said.
'As a result they have evolved from a traditional street gang to a large-scale criminal enterprise superimposed with Mafia style rule,' Bonavolonta said.
The leadership approach has become a model for other Latin Kings regions in the country, they said.
More than 60 members of the Latin Kings (pictured) have been arrested on federal racketeering, drug and firearms charges, including the leaders of the street gang's East Coast operations, authorities announced Thursday
Authorities also seized dozens of firearms (some, pictured), thousands of dollars worth of cash, drugs and vehicles, and three properties in the crackdown
Pictured are weapons seized during the FBI's raids across the state of Massachusetts
The Latin Kings have also grown to become the largest gang in Massachusetts prisons, with an estimated 400 members, including leaders who face charges for continuing to coordinate criminal activity outside the prison, authorities said.
'It's a big hit precisely because we are able to take out all of the leadership,' said US Attorney Andrew Lelling of the five-year investigation by the FBI and the state Department of Correction dubbed 'Operation Throne Down.'
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'It will be extremely difficult for the gang to regroup in the region.'
A lawyer who represented Cecchetelli in a prior federal case declined to comment.
The majority of Thursday morning's arrests took place across Massachusetts, but some gang members and associates were also arrested in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Bonavolonta said.
The gang's operations also stretched into New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
A member of the Latin Kings is pictured during the FBI operation weighing drugs on a scale in Massachusetts
There were 54 people apprehended Thursday, of which nine were already in custody and eight others are still being sought in an predawn raid that included more than 500 law enforcement
Gang member Jorge Rodriguez, an alleged Latin Kings member, was caught cooking crack on film in a New Bedford 'trap house' in July
The Oldest and Largest Latino Gang in America
The Latin Kings street gang was formed in Chicago in the 1960s and consisted predominantly of Mexican and Puerto Rican males.
They are the oldest and largest Hispanic and Latino street gang, tracing their roots to 1954 Chicago.
In its early years, the gang only took on men of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent and origin.
At present, people of any nationality can become members.
Over the years, the Kings split into two lines, the Motherland, known as KMC, based out of Chicago, and Bloodine, based out of New York city.
The Bloodline was formed by Luis Felipe while serving time in the New York State correctional system in 1986.
Between the two Latin King lines, there are an estimated 40,000 members across America.
The gang's main source of income is selling crack, cocaine, and heroin on the streets of the United States.
Similarly to the Cosa Nostra, the Kings portray themselves as a Hispanic community organisation, while engaging in a wide-range of nefarious activities, including homicide, bribery and money laundering, among others.
Gang colours are black, representing death and gold, representing life. Another symbol used by the gang is the crown.
There were 54 people apprehended Thursday, of which nine were already in custody and eight others are still being sought in an predawn raid that included more than 500 law enforcement officers, he said.
Most face federal racketeering charges for allegedly trafficking drugs, laundering money and committing assaults, robberies and other violent crimes and conspiring to commit more than 10 murders.
Others are being held on gun charges.
Sentences range from 10 years for gun possession, to life for drug trafficking.
Authorities also seized dozens of firearms, thousands of dollars worth of cash, drugs and vehicles, and three properties in the crackdown.
The gang distributed drugs and shot music videos boasting about their exploits from the New Bedford, Massachusetts, properties while the owner helped launder money and conceal their operations, Bonavolonta said.
The multi-year investigation involved an informant who infiltrated the gang´s high level meetings, Bonavolonta said.
Thursday's indictment also includes a former Boston high school dean already serving a prison sentence for shooting a student he had recruited to deal drugs in the school, Bonavolonta said.
Shaun Harrison was a full-fledged Latin Kings member who continued his gang activity behind bars, helping the gang try to identify police informants, authorities said.
His lawyer from his prior criminal case didn't respond to a call seeking comment Thursday.
The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is considered the oldest and largest predominantly Latino street gang in the country, tracing its roots to the 1960s in Chicago, where, authorities say, it is still headquartered.
Shaun Harrison: Full-time gangster, part-time pastor
'Double life': Shaun Harrison, 55, allegedly had gang tattoos below his collar bone and was sentenced for using his students to sell drugs. He pleaded not guilty to shooting one of his students in the face
A pastor and high school dean accused of shooting one of his students in the head was living a 'double life' as a gangster.
Shaun Harrison, 55, preached non-violence at Boston English High School before he fired a bullet into the face of a 17-year-old who was selling marijuana for him.
It was the moment, prosecutors said, that his two lives - one as a teacher and one as a drug-pedaling gang member - merged.
Harrison, a father of eight, appeared in court on Thursday to deny assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and battery, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The court heard that he allegedly shot one of his students in the face 'execution-style' and hid his 'gangster life' - including gang tattoos below his collar bone.
The unnamed Boston English High School student survived and told police he had been selling marijuana for Shaun Harrison for the past several months, according to Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Michael Bradley.
Bradley said the student had been told by Harrison, 55, that they were on their way to a house where the student could pick up marijuana and girls on the night of the shooting.
After Harrison's home was searched on Thursday police found an illegally-owned rifle and shotgun in his bedroom, which Bradley said the minister had told police were weapons he had inherited from his father.
Harrison only began working at Boston English High School at the beginning of January and served as a 'community or family outreach coordinator,' school spokeswoman Denise Snyder told the Boston Globe.
Over 60 Latin Kings members arrested along East Coast
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