BOSTON (AP) — Nearly three dozen members and associates of a Boston-based street gang are facing federal charges for a slew of violent crimes, authorities said Tuesday.

Fifteen members and associates of the NOB gang were arrested Tuesday by Boston police and federal authorities and six others remain fugitives on federal warrants, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters. Another 11 already in state custody are now facing federal charges.

“This operation was intended to dismantle the NOB gang and take the most violent members of that gang off the street,” Lelling said.

The gang is responsible for a litany of crimes including killings, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and armed robbery, Lelling said. Eleven search warrants are being executed in Boston and other communities in the area, including Fall River and Providence, Rhode Island, he said.

Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said the gang has been terrorizing the Boston communities of Dorchester and Roxbury for decades.

“Today, in the federal system they will be held accountable. Today we send the message to the people of Boston and the commonwealth of Massachusetts, we have your back,” he said.

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