UPDATE: 'Bloods' gang members indicted on corruption, drug charges

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

Forty-one people face corruption and drug-dealing charges after a seven-month investigation by New York’s Organized Crime Task Force.

The people charged in indictments unsealed today are members or affiliates of the “Bloods” street gang from the Albany area and from downstate, according to the state attorney general’s office. They are accused of transporting cocaine, heroin and marijuana from Brooklyn and Long Island to Albany for distribution in the region as far north as Lake George.

Defendants were being arraigned this afternoon, held in custody after pleading not guilty or returning to court to post bail. More than two dozen were picked up in the initial roundup.

“This was a very violent, violent group,” said Rich Bamberger, spokesman for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Authorities said they confiscated 10 guns, six pounds of marijuana, more than an ounce each of cocaine and heroin and about $65,000 in cash.

One indictment charges 21 alleged gang members with enterprise corruption. Accusations include trafficking, robbery, assault and an attempted murder, officials said.

Albany police were part of the investigation. Officials said it began with a tip and included the use of wiretaps, from which investigators heard of planned robberies and assaults that were stopped.