Operation X-Force: Hotboii, 9lokknine among 34 accused of racketeering and gang violence
After a nine-month-long investigation, Orange County Sheriff’s Office has rounded up the names of 34 people who are either arrested or wanted in the on-going RICO investigation that also includes the name of Orlando’s top rappers Hotboii and 9lokknine. The official Twitter account of the County Sheriff’s office shared the pictures of the accused and revealed that these 34 people were slapped with racketeering or drug trafficking charges.
The tweet read, “These are the nearly three dozen suspects arrested or wanted on racketeering or drug trafficking charges after a nine-month investigation into criminal gangs in Orange County by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI).” The entire investigation has been dubbed as Operation X-Force, as reported by the website Fader. The investigation looks into the rival gangs responsible for 30 shootings and homicides in the Orange and Osceola County areas. Speaking of arrests, a lot of rappers were recently in news for the same. Hip-hop artists such as Polo G and Bandman Kevo were recently arrested whereas, a member from DaBaby’s entourage identified as Wisdom Awute was arrested for attempted murder. Atlanta rapper Metro Marrs, who is Migos’ label mate also got detained recently for throwing 10K in the air during his graduation ceremony.
These are the nearly three dozen suspects arrested or wanted on racketeering or drug trafficking charges after a nine-month investigation into criminal gangs in Orange County by the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI). pic.twitter.com/ksVyEiSXTm
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) July 2, 2021
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What is Operation X-Force?
According to the website Fader, Operation X-Force targets local crime organizations Army Gang and 438 Gang, as revealed by The Orange County Sheriff's Office during a press conference. Rappers 9lokkNine and Hotboii, whose legal names are Jacquavius Smith and Javarri Walker respectively, are facing charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. 9lokkNine, who is currently on bail, is yet to be officially arrested while it was reported that Hotboii is on the run. The latter is also identified as the leader of the 438 Gang that is involved with this case.
According to the website WMFE, Sheriff John Mina revealed more details about the operation and asserted, “Our hope is that when the community and even some of these criminals see the breadth of this operation, the people who are going to be going to prison for a very very long time, that people will come forward and give us tips on these cases.” While sharing a message for the gang members, he added, “We’re not going anywhere. This is what we do for a living. We do this 24 hours a day. And we will open up investigations on them. This isn’t the end of it. These folks have decided to pop their heads up in our community and commit violence in our community and we’re not going to stop until they stop committing violence or they’re all in prison.”
Who is 9lokknine?
9lokknine, pronounced as Glokknine, is best known for his singles like ‘223's’ with YNW Melly, ‘Blatt’, ‘I Don't Need No Help’, ‘Crayola’, and ‘Leonardo Da G9’ among others. The young hip-hop artist shot to fame with his song called ‘10 Percent’ which garnered over 30 million views on YouTube.
Who is Hotboii?
The 21-year-old Orlando native is a rapper, singer and songwriter who is best known for his breakout single ‘Don't Need Time’. The song was released in 2020 and has garnered over 60 million views on YouTube. The song also got a remix featuring Lil Baby. Hotboii is signed to Interscope Records, in association with Hitmaker Music Group and 22 Entertainment.