A video released by the NYPD on 27 April shows US authorities arresting 120 reputed rival gang members, and their associates, for murder, robbery, drug dealing and other charges. Those arrested were members and associates of the Big Money Bosses (BMB) and 2Fly YGz (2Fly) gangs.

Victims of the vicious rivalry between the two gangs have included 92-year-old Sadie Mitchell, who was struck by a stray bullet in her home in the Bronx, the city's poorest borough, in October 2009.

Nearly 700 federal agents and New York City Police Department officers were involved in the pre-dawn raids in the Bronx on Wednesday (27 April), which were part of an ongoing effort to make the city's public housing projects safer for an estimated 400,000 residents, amid a surge of violence, Bharara said.

The people arrested were charged in two separate indictments, one for each of the two gangs, with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, narcotics distribution and firearms offences, officials confirmed. The indictments identify the suspects by legal names, as well as by their multiple nicknames, including Zico Nico, Q-Dizzy, Mad Dog and Gunz.

Both gangs - whose members have an average age of 24 - operated from playgrounds and abandoned housings, where they stashed drugs and guns, and are accused of passing counterfeit currency to generate income, according to the indictment. More charges are expected in an ongoing investigation.

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