Alleged gang members arrested in Pottstown

They went by the artful nicknames of "Pudge," "Cream," and "Pizza," but law enforcement officials said they were nothing but "thugs" connected to two homegrown, violent street gangs, intent on dominance, that terrorized a community for months.

On Thursday, officials announced the arrests of 34 people connected with the gangs Straight Cash Money Gang and Brothas From Anotha, which operated in Pottstown, Montgomery County, and whose tentacles reached into Berks County and Philadelphia.

"This is the kind of firearm used to terrorize our streets," said Risa Vetri Ferman, Montgomery County district attorney, holding up a Tec-9 semiautomatic pistol illegally obtained by one of the defendants.

Officials said 47 arrest warrants were issued and other suspects are still at large. The indictments were handed up by a Montgomery County grand jury and included charges of attempted murder, assault, conspiracy, and drug and firearms violations.

The groups are said to be responsible for 17 shootings and drug activity from November 2014 until this month. Police were able to intervene several times to prevent planned executions of rival gang members, officials said.

Ferman said investigators received little cooperation from community members intimidated by the gangs. Gang members openly wore T-shirts and sweatshirts with gang logos on them, and carried illegally obtained weapons "with impunity," Ferman said.

Drug activity was ancillary, Ferman said. The end game, she said, was "dominance."

Dubbed "Operation War Ready" after the rap lyrics used by some gang members, investigators used wiretaps, search warrants, analysis of phone records, ballistics comparisons, video forensics, and interviews to obtain evidence that was presented to a Montgomery County grand jury April 12.

The defendants, men and women, range in age from 19 to 59 and live in Berks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties and Philadelphia, according to court records.