Cobb County DA: 11 suspect gang members arrested

ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A major development in the fight against gang violence in metro Atlanta.

Cobb County officials were joined by a number of other agencies announcing 11 indictments against alleged gang members of the “18-31 Pirus” gang.

Acting Cobb County District Attorney John Melvin called these latest indictments a huge victory for the county, its residents, and the state of Georgia.

Authorities on Friday announced the months-long investigation into the 18-31 Pirus gang, a subgroup of the Bloods gang.

It netted 11 individuals indicted on a number of charges including aggravated assault, armed robbery, and more.

Of the 11, nine were in custody as of Friday. Those arrests happened all over the metro Atlanta area including Juan Manuel Contreras and Alejandro Jose Alcala in Cobb County.

The 65-page indictment talks about the crimes the areas the gang was more or less headquartered out of a home apparently near Clay Drive and the Atlanta Road.

In fact, FOX 5 News has learned in Cobb County gang members focused mainly on two precincts, southwest, and southeast Cobb County. Precinct 2 which includes Austell, Mableton and Powder Springs, and neighboring Precinct 3 which includes the Cumberland Galleria Mall area, Vinings and some parts of Smyrna.