Federal prosecutors yesterday brought charges of murder, drug peddling and robbery against 12 Bronx men they claimed were members of a ruthless street gang known as the Clay Avenue Bloods.
The 26-count indictment accused the men, whose aliases included names like “Butter,” “Berry” and “Tooch,” of terrorizing the area of 167th Street and Clay Avenue for seven years ending in 2005.
Five of the men were charged in two separate murders that took place in the neighborhood in 2000, one of them over a drug deal and the other during a robbery of a gambling hall.
The men could face the death penalty if convicted.
The bust was part of an 18-month investigation by the NYPD and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.