Suspected Leader of Crime Ring Arrested

The reputed head of a multimillion-dollar crime ring made up of Los Angeles street gang members is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate in Las Vegas today on drug trafficking charges, authorities said.

Wayne Alfred Day, 40, of Los Angeles was arrested without incident Friday at a motel on the Las Vegas Strip, FBI officials said in a statement.

Authorities believe Day is one of the original leaders of the Grape Street Crips, a Los Angeles gang that police say dominates criminal activity in Watts’ Jordan Downs housing project.

Known on the streets as “Honcho,” Day had been sought since May 15 when FBI agents and police officers in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis and Jackson, Miss., arrested dozens of his alleged confederates and seized more than $500,000 in cash, more than 40 kilograms of crack and powder cocaine, and five kilograms of amphetamines.

Federal officials said 28 of those arrested last month are from Southern California and that the case grew out of investigations of Los Angeles street gangs.

The crime ring sent cocaine and crack to cities in the Midwest and South, reaping millions of dollars to be sent back to Los Angeles, where it was used to buy more drugs from Mexican suppliers, officials said.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Day in Los Angeles last month on charges of distribution and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, and possession and conspiracy to possess goods stolen from interstate commerce.

After Day and 48 others were indicted, FBI agents in Las Vegas received information indicating that he could be in the Las Vegas area. Several locations were put under surveillance before Day was arrested at the Tam O’Shanter Motel, agents said.

On the streets of Watts, Day was a street-gang legend--”part of the folklore,” said veteran Los Angeles County probation officer Jim Galipeau.

Day’s parents, Betty and Arthur Day, have lived for years beneath the weight of his reputation, acknowledging their son’s unsavory past but saying those days are behind him.

Day’s mother, Betty Day, is block captain of her Neighborhood Watch, and serves on the Los Angeles Police Department’s Southeast Division community advisory board.

His father, Arthur Day, runs a trucking business and says his son works with him hauling tomatoes. Arthur Day says he has not seen his son’s involvement in criminal activity.

Officials say it is typical of gangsters to maintain low profiles in their home communities, and federal agents say Day has managed to distance himself from street-level violence while still managing the drug enterprise.