'Murder', the infamous leader of Chicago's most notorious street gang Black Disciples, is among the two dozen people who were arrested in a federal gang takedown involving drug and weapons trafficking in the city's Englewood neighborhood. Darnell McMiller, who goes by the street name Murder, was arrested on Tuesday after a multi-year investigation, according to the Northern District of Illinois US Attorney's Office.
Police said that several other high-ranking leaders of the gang were also arrested and charged. McMiller has been charged with a spate of federal gun and drug offenses. The arrests come amid growing concerns over a spike in the crime rate in Chicago. Authorities have described McMiller's arrest as a big win in their first major move to curb violent crime in the city.
A Big Catch
Prosecutors have described McMiller, 34, as the present leader of the Black Disciples, a national street gang that was founded in the 1960s. Miller was charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl-laced heroin in 2019 along with several other high-ranking leaders of the gang.
Federal authorities have been looking for McMiller in multiple cases related to drug distribution and gun violence. The charges announced on Wednesday stem from a multi-year investigation that resulted in the arrest and of 23 people along with the seizure of 24 guns, 13 kilos of cocaine, fentanyl-laced heroin, crack cocaine, ecstasy and around $52,600 in cash.
Members of the Black Disciples gang are known for distributing drugs and guns in the Englewood neighborhood and other parts of Chicago. McMiller's arrest is being touted by the federal authorities as one of the first major steps toward curbing the growing crime in Chicago. "The two dozen individuals that were arrested are arrested for serious crime. They promoted violence. They promoted drug activity," said Emerson Buie, Chicago FBI Special Agent in Charge.
A Long History of Crime
Others arrested and charged along with McMiller are Clarence January and Charles Knight. January leads the gang's 'Pound Dog' faction, while Knight is allegedly a high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples and is accused of supplying narcotics to McMiller's gang.
McMiller allegedly conspired with Knight to distribute fentanyl-laced heroin to an informant at the 7000 block of South Lowe Avenue in September 2019. However, McMiller has been targeted by federal authorities for years. He was charged with three counts of distributing controlled substance in 2013. Records reveal that he was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2014 and was released in 2019, only to be arrested within weeks while attempting to arrange new drug pipelines for the gang.
McMiller, according to federal authorities, is one of the most notorious and influential gang leaders. In a recorder conversation, he reportedly had told an undercover FBI officer in 2019 about his plans of making the birthday of former Black Disciples leader Jerome "Shorty" Freeman a holiday for the gang "everywhere.
