Federal agents have arrested more than 15 people in a Houston gang sweep, and two YouTube rappers are reportedly among them.
The FBI Houston Safe Streets Task Force led the operation late Wednesday night, hitting multiple locations across the city. According to a law enforcement source who spoke to KPRC 2, the target was YNS, a group that calls itself a gang and keeps a heavy presence on social media. Members allegedly posted videos connected to criminal activity.
Law enforcement sources told KHOU 11 that rappers Luh Que and Dee Fully are in custody. Their real names have not been released, and the FBI did not identify anyone when it announced the arrests. The bureau has not publicly confirmed either rapper’s involvement.
Investigators believe the people picked up in the Houston gang sweep may be tied to multiple violent crimes in the city over the past year, possibly longer. They face a mix of federal and state charges. The Houston Police Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force and the ATF all assisted.
Five of the suspects went before a federal magistrate judge Thursday afternoon. It was their first court appearance, where they were read their rights and given appointed defense attorneys.
Four of those men, Darrell Sampson, Kristian Winters, Jacob Barrett and Jocquez Frye, are charged together in one indictment accusing them of conspiring to commit robbery and distribute drugs. Frye faces an additional charge of illegally possessing a machine gun, which under federal law covers any weapon that fires more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger. Public records show some of the identified defendants live and work in north Harris County.
A fifth man, Jordan Strambler, was charged in a related case with illegal possession of a machine gun. He was released on bond after his appearance.
Prosecutors plan to ask the court to keep Sampson, Winters, Barrett and Frye locked up until trial. That fight happens at a detention hearing scheduled for next week, where a judge decides whether a defendant is too dangerous or too likely to run to be released while the case plays out.
The federal indictments in the Houston gang sweep remain sealed, meaning the court is keeping the full charging documents private for now. Sealing is common when an investigation is still active or not everyone named has been arrested. Until those documents are opened, the full list of defendants and what each one is accused of stays under wraps, including what charges Luh Que and Dee Fully face.
For rappers, the case lands on familiar ground. Prosecutors have leaned on posted videos and lyrics as evidence before, most famously in the YSL racketeering case in Atlanta. Investigators have not said what role YNS’s online content plays in these charges.
