Queens Gang Members Charged With Kidnapping, Torture

Members of a violent gang from Queens that allegedly stole millions of dollars worth of cocaine from drug dealers are facing criminal charges in federal court that include kidnapping and torture, officials said yesterday.

The suspects, who posed as police officers to carry out their crimes, allegedly netted 750 kilograms of cocaine and $4 million in drug proceeds by kidnapping, torturing, and robbing their victims, according to court records.

Judge Joan Azrack arraigned the defendants yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn after prosecutors unsealed a February 21 indictment. The suspects were held without bail and face a minimum of 40 years in prison if convicted.

Law enforcement agents began to investigate the gang in 2006 and discovered that the group of police impersonators were kidnapping their victims and then using death threats and various forms of torture, including simulated drowning, to find out the location of drug stashes and proceeds, according to court documents.

Investigators compiled evidence that prosecutors say will prove the gang pulled off more than 100 robberies between 2003 and 2007 in New York and several others states along the East Coast, according to court records.