Officials say the ringleaders of a Philadelphia criminal organization stole city block corners in Kensington to rent for profit to drug dealers.
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Curtis Coates Sr. and Curtis Coates Jr., father and son, were the leaders of the organization, according to officials.
Coates Jr. allegedly collected money for his father, who charged drug dealers as much as $3,000 per block.
Officials say the Office of Attorney General's Kensington Initiative helped arrest 23 individuals after a six-month investigation.
"Coates and his son stole public city block corners and rented them for profit to drug dealers," Shapiro said in a statement. "These are corners children wait for buses on, corners you cross to get to work. And they stole them and rented them for top dollar to bring poison and violence into these neighborhoods."
Officials say 29 firearms, $179,000 in cash, and over 82,000 doses of illegal drugs were confiscated.
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"This is the largest one-day coordinated operation since the Kensington Initiative's launch," added Shapiro. "And it's another example of taking these organizations down from the top."
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