Police arrested three Chicago area gang members and confiscated a cache of guns and drugs on Wednesday after they received a tip about a YouTube video of the thugs bragging about their lifestyle.
“There are several people in the 40-minute video with guns and drugs,” Harvey Police Department spokesman Sean Howard told ABC Chicago.
“The group even sold marijuana to an individual while the video was being recorded,” he said. “The group boasted of dog fighting and admitted that there was a deceased dog in the garage. The dog died during a fight with another dog.”
Howard said the video was produced at a home on West 158th Street and “featured a well-known drug dealer and at least 20 known gang members from various southern Cook County communities” flashing wads of cash, guns, drugs and spouting profanities.
“Ain’t no BB guns,” one man said in the video.
WDJT reports the gang bangers did not attempt to shield their faces, and even identified themselves by their street names.
The YouTube video was posted March 20, but has since been removed. Police used it to secure a search warrant for the home and raided the house around 4 a.m. Wednesday, according to NBC Chicago.
Inside, police arrested a “lead gang member in the video” known as “MONK” who was on house arrest at the time, as well as two other suspects.
Police also confiscated numerous guns, a lot of marijuana, and a “significant amount of a white substance believed to be cocaine.” Officers found the dead dog in the garage, as well as two others that were “poorly treated,” the news site reports.
“The stupidity, obviously, to post it on social media, but then to boast that this is our block. Well, like Deputy (Chief Gregory) Thomas says, every citizen owns the block. The blocks in Harvey belong to the citizens,” Harvey Police Chief Denard Eaves said in a press conference.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t catch this before the one dog was killed, or even the one dog was injured,” Thomas said, adding that he hopes more local criminals follow the group’s example.
“If individuals want to use social media and conduct criminal activity I would continue to encourage it,” he said.
Police told NBC Chicago they’re still working to track down several other folks who appeared in the video, including an alleged cousin of “MONK” who works as a police dispatcher and purchased drugs from him in the video.
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