More than 40 people with connections to the white supremacist street gang “Ghost Face Gangsters” have been indicted on a slew of federal charges, from firearms possession to drug trafficking. All of the suspects face life in prison. The 43 men and women were indicted in the U.S. District Court in Savannah, Ga., in what authorities dubbed “Operation Vanilla Gorilla.”
“When I was sworn in as the United States Attorney, I pledged that we would make neighborhoods safer and work hard to dismantle criminal street gangs,” said U.S. Attorney Bobby L. Christine. “As this indictment demonstrates, we will coordinate with federal, state and local law enforcement to identify criminal organizations; we will target them and we will dismantle them. The Ghost Face Gangsters is a gang that started in Georgia prisons. It has spread to the free world. It is my goal to end the gang where it started.”
The investigation began in 2015, and operated throughout the southern Georgia counties of Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, Emmanuel, Evans and Tattnall. It follows the March 2018 arrest of 23 Ghost Face Gangsters gang members.
Charges Include:
- 25 counts alleging the possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute
- 18 counts alleging the unlawful distribution of controlled substances
- 25 counts alleging prohibited persons (drug users and/or felons) in possession of firearms and/or ammunition
- One count alleging the unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon – a sawed-off rifle
- One count alleging the possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number
- 10 counts alleging the possession of controlled substances, including methamphetamine, heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, and prescription pills
- 2 counts alleging the possession of counterfeit currency
