More than 20 Arlington gang members arrested, facing RICO charges, FBI says
.jpg "A joint operation by Arlington police and the FBI led to the arrests of 21 Arlington-based Kiccdoe gang members accused in crimes including shootings, drug offenses and organized violence, police said.")
A joint operation by North Texas police and the FBI led to the arrests of 21 Arlington-based gang members accused of shootings, murders, drug crimes and other violence, police said. The suspects are facing federal organized crime charges.
The criminal street gang called Kiccdoe has been a major driver of violent crime in Arlington for the past several years, Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said during a news conference on Wednesday.
“The Arlington Police Department’s violent crime unit and our gang specialists have investigated numerous cases involving this group, and have been closely monitoring their activity since January 2022,” Jones said.
Investigators have documented 180 criminal incidents involving the Kiccdoe gang, including aggravated assaults, robberies, burglaries, shootings and drug offenses, Jones said.
In 2024, Kiccdoe members robbed and assaulted a victim at gunpoint. Detectives later determined that the deadly shooting that occurred at Bowie High School in Arlington that year was in retaliation for that incident, Jones said.
Etavion Barnes, 18, was killed in the shooting on the campus of Bowie High School in April 2024, and the shooter, 17-year-old student Julian Howard was arrested and later pleaded guilty to murder.
The murder outside the school led to multiple alleged retaliation shootings between Kiccdoe and other Arlington gangs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said in a news release. Over a three-year period from early 2022 through this year, Kiccdoe members “terrorized many parts of Arlington’s communities with ... violent offenses and threats of violence” including murder, drive-by shootings and other gun crimes, and trafficking drugs including fentanyl and marijuana across North Texas, federal authorities said.
Jones said multiple Kiccdoe members were arrested in connection to a shooting at an Arlington apartment complex in March when a teenage girl was injured by stray gunfire that went into her family’s apartment.
“Our city is safer with these suspects off the street, and I hope our community can rest a little easier tonight,” Jones said. “I also hope that we have proven to them that we will not tolerate violence in our community, and we’re going to do everything in our power to stop it.”
“When you’re part of a street gang, you know they promise you power, money, friendship, all of those things, but at the end of the day, all it does is lead to betrayal, jail time or even death,” Jones said.
FBI investigation began in April 2024
The FBI started its investigation in April 2024, in a partnership between the Arlington Police Department and the FBI’s Fort Worth Safe Streets Task Force to look into the Arlington-based street gang, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Wright said.
“The Kiccdoe gang originated from the 600 block of East Arkansas Lane on the eastside of Arlington,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “To demonstrate their association with the gang, members used words such as ‘kiccdoe,’ ‘KDN’ (for ‘Kiccdoe Nation’), ‘6,’ or ‘600’ on public social media accounts. They also wore clothing bearing the same inscriptions and produced and distributed online songs and videos about their gang activities and crimes.”
Multiple agencies executed search and arrest warrants on Nov. 6 in Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Forney for the 21 suspects affiliated with this street gang, Wright said.
Wright said 17 of the gang members face Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO ) conspiracy charges, and the other four face Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) charges.
The people who were arrested range from 18 to 23 years old, he said.
“These gang members allegedly use violence and intimidation to protect power, territory and profits; they instill fear in their victims, and are allegedly responsible for drive-by shootings, numerous attempted murders and even homicides,” Wright said. “They’ve allegedly engaged in organized crime, drug trafficking, weapons possession, aggravated assault with deadly weapons, burglary, armed robbery, resisting arrest, assaulting a public servant, and aggravated sexual assault of a child.”
Investigators seized 16 guns and ammunition, five and a half pounds of marijuana and $11,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia during their operation, Wright said.
“I want to extend a special thank you to Chief Jones and the Arlington Police Department for their professionalism and unwavering commitment to protect the citizens of Arlington from violent crime,” Wright said. “That commitment, with their willingness to undertake this joint investigation, made last week’s success possible, and more importantly, the people of Arlington and surrounding communities much safer today.”
“To anyone committing acts of violence — we hope these arrests serve as a clear reminder that the FBI will not stand idly by while violence plagues our community,” he said.
The gang members who are “terrorizing the community through their violence” know what RICO is, Wright said. “It is a very important part of this story, and we’re really excited to be able to bring that option to Arlington PD, to help move this forward.”
The complaint alleges that “violent acts that Kiccdoe members called ‘stripes’ were required to join the gang, remain in good standing as a gang member, and maintain the gang’s violent reputation in the community,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Specific crimes identified in the complaint in furtherance of racketeering include a murder, six attempted murders, nine robberies, numerous assaults with dangerous weapons, ongoing sales of fentanyl and marijuana, and continuing threats of violence, all undertaken to obtain and preserve the profits, power, and territory of Kiccdoe members while keeping victims in fear of the gang and its members.”
The 21 suspects who were arrested are:
- 22-year-old Blake Scott
- 21-year-old Bradly McArthur
- 18-year-old Cortez Atkinson
- 18-year-old Datraven Warren
- 19-year-old DeMarco Westmoreland
- 20-year-old Dillen Opare
- 19-year-old Raphael Opare
- 21-year-old Isaiah Wiley
- 19-year-old Jakyla Totten
- 20-year-old Jamarion Manogin
- 22-year-old Jaylen Franklin
- 18-year-old Joseph Hill
- 22-year-old Kyron Oates
- 18-year-old Michael Mensah
- 21-year-old Lamarion Austin
- 20-year-old Marcus Shaw
- 21-year-old Sadedrick Wilson
- 19-year-old Vernell Woods
- 21-year-old Sir James Mack Williams
- 22-year-old Chauncey Ross
- 20-year-old Keyshawn Burton
The defendants were charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Nov. 4. All 21 were in custody as of Nov. 7, and 17 had their initial court appearances that day before a U.S. magistrate judge. The other four suspects had their initial appearances Wednesday.
If convicted, the defendants will face statutory maximum sentences ranging from 10 years to life in federal prison.
This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM.