The FBI and Arlington Police Department revealed criminal charges Wednesday against 21 alleged members and associates of a violent street gang.
The gang, known as Kiccdoe or 600, has been active in Arlington going back to at least August of 2021, according to a federal indictment. The 85-page document lays out what FBI agents and Arlington detectives allege is a racketeering conspiracy involving murder, robbery and drug trafficking.
The 21 defendants all range in age from 18 to 22. Seventeen of them face a charge of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization, or RICO, Act, the federal government’s main tool to prosecute organized crime. The other four face charges of Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering, known as VICAR. In addition, various defendants also face charges for drug trafficking, murder, assault and various firearms offenses.
“Do not let the ages distract from the havoc they’ve inflicted on the community. These gang members used violence to allegedly inflict violence to protect power, territory and profits,” Jeremy Wright, the assistant special agent in charge of FBI Dallas said in a news conference Wednesday morning.
The suspects were arrested in a joint operation last week, involving more than one dozen SWAT teams across six cities in North Texas, authorities said.
School shooting leads to FBI involvement
According to the indictment, Kiccdoe began in the 600 block of East Arkansas Lane, between South Center Street and South Collins Street. Arlington police had been tracking its activities and members until an escalation in gang violence prompted detectives to turn to the FBI for more help.
In April of 2024, 18-year-old Etavion Barnes was shot and killed at Bowie High School. Authorities allege Barnes was a member of Kiccdoe, and his killing prompted multiple retaliation shootings between gangs. Julian Howard, then 17, was arrested for Barnes’ murder and is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.
After the shooting, detectives obtained a search warrant for Barnes’ Instagram account and found that Kiccdoe members were using the group chat function in the app to “discuss their gang affiliation, various violent crimes, trafficking of narcotics and weapons, and to conspire to commit other violent crimes,” the indictment said.
FBI agents later obtained federal search warrants for more than a dozen other Instagram accounts, which they allege contain evidence of the gang’s membership and criminal activities. Some of the chats even warn participants to stay off social media in order to avoid providing police evidence for RICO charges.
More from CBS News