#3835: FBI Home Invasion Sting Nets Seven Suspects (6 suspects from Haiti) (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Wednesday May 24 12:01 PM EDT 

 FBI Home Invasion Sting Nets Seven Suspects

 NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (APBnews.com) -- Seven gang members suspected in a
string of home invasions are under arrest, caught breaking into a home
where FBI agents planted two duffel bags filled with cocaine,
authorities said today.  One suspect is still at large after escaping
during a confrontation with police Monday in which shots were fired,
 and a police dog tracked down and bit a fleeing suspect.  "We know
they're always heavily armed, and we know it's a very violent gang,"
said FBI Special Agent Terry Nelson, noting that the members already
have been charged with drug offenses and will likely face additional
 charges for other home invasions. 

 Agents set trap 

 An informant alerted officials to the gang, telling investigators on
May 8 that it was planning a home invasion in the Miami area, according
to an FBI affidavit. To protect  the innocent and to catch the suspects
in the act, the FBI had the informant divert them to another home in
North Miami, Nelson said. The informant told the gang that drug dealers
frequented the home and would be storing more than 200 kilograms of    
cocaine there on Monday.  But the home was actually run by the FBI, and
the two duffel bags inside were filled with fake cocaine as the
 suspects found out the hard way at about 1 a.m. Monday, Nelson said.
 According to police reports, one of the gang members broke through a
window and went to the door to let in his accomplices, and when they
touched a duffle, it set off a stun grenade.  "After the explosion, the
individuals came running out of the house," and one of them fired a gun,
Nelson said. No one was hit by the bullets, and police did not return
fire, Nelson said. 

 One escapes 

 Police apprehended five of the suspects quickly, chasing them down with
dogs and in cars. A sixth suspect, the driver of the intended getaway
car, was caught nearby, and a seventh was arrested soon after in a home
used by the gang. Nelson could not identify the suspect who escaped in
the chaos.  Six of the suspects were in the country illegally from
Haiti, Nelson said, adding that a task force of local police, the
 FBI and the Immigration and Naturalization Service have arrested about
15 members of similar gangs in the past year. 
 He said the gangs prey on Haitian-Americans, and said that in one home
invasion in the area, a woman was raped, and another victim was tortured
with a hot iron. Nelson said it is too early to tell how many home
invasions can be linked to the suspects arrested Monday.  The suspects
were identified in the affidavit as Rony Genois, Sanson Valcourt, Jean
P. Jerome, Alex Razzi, Abelite Desir, Jean Dorcet Henry and Bernard
Severe. They have all been charged with possession of cocaine with
intent to distribute and are being held without bail, Nelson said.  He
said police recovered one gun, and they suspect that at least one more
was dumped by the suspects Monday. Nelson added that surveillance video
and audiotapes, which were reviewed by a Creole-speaking officer, reveal
many of the suspects discussing their planned crimes with the
confidential informant. 

 By Dan Kraut, an APBnews.com staff writer.