ADAM FERRISE (Tribune Chronicle) | April 17, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN - Members of Youngstown street gang LSP ruled their territory with violence and threats.
And when that didn't work, they would attempt to pay off those who could testify against them, sources say.
Local and federal investigators working to dismantle LSP, named for Laclede, Sherwood, Parkview and Princeton avenues where the gang operated, believe it was Youngstown's largest street gang. With about 50 members and associates, they say gang members specialized mostly in crack cocaine trafficking.
Last month, following a lengthy investigation headed by the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force Gang Unit and the ATF, 31 people, including 29 that police say are known gang members, were charged on federal and state counts.
Dozens of other gangs exist in the city, police say, each having a stronghold on various areas of Youngstown, using it in the drug trade that police estimate generates $8 million in sales each month.
LSP was the first gang targeted recently by law enforcement. Authorities believe members used gang signs, making the letters L, S and P, with their hands, getting the letters tattooed on their bodies and spray-painting graffiti in their territory.
Read more at: http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/555754/Dismantling-of-a-gang.html?nav=5021
