In 1961, a hurricane prompted the first major wave of immigration from British Honduras to South Los Angeles, which was already home to street gangs like the Crips and the Bloods.[1] The spread of gangs among Belizeans accelerated in the 1980s.[1] Following a wave of gang violence, ethnic Belizean gang members were deported back to Belize. Deported Belizean gang members quickly spread the culture of Bloods and Crips in Belize City.[3] While the gang was in Belize, it adopted its current name.[3]
The Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips were established in New York City by Dalmin "Diamond" Mayen, his two brothers and several other associates, who set up a drug enterprise in the blocks surrounding 118th Street and Fifth Avenue after arriving from Belize in the late 1980s or early 1990s. By 1995, the gang was active in Harlem and responsible for several assaults and shootings.[1][3] In 1997, the gang was making $4,000 per day in drug sales.[3]
Activities
The Rollin 30s Harlem Crips are involved in drug trafficking.[1] Other criminal activities of the gang include weapon trafficking, prostitution, murder, and robbery.[4]
Investigations and prosecutions
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) became aware of the presence of the gang in November 1995 after several members assaulted a teenaged girl who was wearing red clothing — the gang colors of the rival Bloods gang. In April 1996, the gang's leader, Dalmin "Diamond" Mayen, fired a gun at an elderly neighbor who confronted him about his drug dealing, prompting police to begin investigating the gang. Following a seven-month investigation, 24 members of the Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips in East Harlem were arrested on charges of attempted murder, sexual assault, and selling crack cocaine and heroin, on October 29, 1997.[3]
In 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office initiated Operation Thumbs Down, an 18-month investigation that targeted members and associates of the Rollin’ 30s Harlem Crips in South Los Angeles. The investigation culminated on August 29, 2013, when 35 gang members charged with various narcotics and weapons violations were taken into custody in an operation involving over 800 law enforcement officers and agents.[2]
On May 12, 2021, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California announced the arrests of three members of the Rollin' 30s Crips, Malik Lamont Poweel, Khai McGhee, and Marquise Anthony Gardon, in the robbery of a $500,000 Richard Mille watch from a patron of Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, California.[5]
