‘Violent and Relentless’: Alleged Baltimore street gang members accused of 18 killings, 27 attempted murders

Fifteen alleged members of a violent Maryland street gang are accused of everything from murder and drug conspiracies to carjackings, robberies, assaults, and witness intimidation over the course of five years.

According to an 11-count indictment unsealed June 3, the defendants allegedly were part of "Triple C" — shorthand for “Cruddy Conniving Crutballs” — a gang operating throughout Baltimore that was responsible for multiple murders and attempted murders as well as drug “shops” that distributed everything from heroin and fentanyl to crack cocaine and marijuana, federal prosecutors said.

At a news conference, Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan F. Lenzner called Triple-C “essentially an organized crime business” that’s as “organized and savvy as they are violent and relentless,” the Baltimore Sun reported.

Federal prosecutors claimed Triple C members “engaged in a pattern of criminal racketeering activity... including 18 murders, [and] 27 attempted murders of rival gang members and narcotics dealers.”

Authorities seized 15 firearms from alleged gang members who, prosecutors claimed, “earned respect from fellow members and maintained or advanced their position in the gang by engaging in criminal activities in furtherance of the gang, and particularly violent acts directed by Triple C leadership.”

The indictment also claims Gary Creek, the 39-year-old alleged founder of the gang, took contract murders on behalf of Triple C and then ordered its members to carry them out.

The gang allegedly used social media to communicate with one another, elevate Triple C’s status and locate victims, prosecutors said.

If convicted, the defendants face anywhere from five years to life behind bars, depending on their individual charges.