A North Philly drug gang that sold crack and cocaine out of a coffee shop has been shut down, AG Dave Sunday said

More than a dozen men who police said were part of a North Philadelphia drug trafficking group — and who sold crack and cocaine out of a coffee shop that served as a front for their operation — have been charged in what Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday described as an organizational takedown.

Sunday announced the arrests at a news conference Wednesday in Northeast Philadelphia, saying 17 people would face charges including conspiracy, corrupt organizations, and a variety of drug and gun offenses.

The men were longtime drug dealers in the neighborhood, Sunday said, and many were past the age typically associated with such activity. The gang’s purported leader, Louis Alexander, is 56, and Sunday said some others facing charges were in their 60s or 70s.

The case was announced as Sunday is also set to discuss drug enforcement and combating fentanyl abuse at an event Wednesday afternoon in Allentown. U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) organized that event, which FBI Director Kash Patel is also expected to attend.

At Wednesday morning’s briefing, Sunday said Alexander and his accused coconspirators used a purported coffee shop at the intersection of W. Cumberland and N. Cleveland Streets — dubbed Cumberland Coffee and Snacks — as a base for their operation.

The group cooked crack on the shop’s second floor, Sunday said, and sold drugs to customers on the first floor. They also sold drugs on neighborhood streets, and group members performed a variety of tasks to support the organization, Sunday said.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Michael Barry said the gang had been known around the neighborhood for “well over a decade.” And although authorities did not announce any charges in connection with acts of violence, Sunday said the men had a stockpile of weapons, and that the investigation into how or when they used them was ongoing.

Barry said the coffee shop was a poorly designed front. When police served search warrants in recent days, he said, the shop had some snacks and sodas available, but “there were no coffee pots” inside.

Alexander, the gang’s purported leader, was taken into custody last week, court records show. He did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

Sunday said police also recovered dozens of guns, cash, and drug paraphernalia while serving warrants — part of what he said was an attempt to “obliterate” the group and prevent any members from continuing to sustain its operations.

“Our goal is not just to arrest the one person they caught dealing that day,” Sunday said. “The goal is to do it right and be able to remove an entire organization, because the impact on the community will be vastly greater.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.