TEXARKANA, Texas (KETK) – Texarkana police reported on Tuesday, that after an 18-month long investigation across multiple agencies, numerous members of the LCB/I-30 cartel gang had been arrested.

Each person arrested in relation to the investigation was subsequently charged with organized criminal activity in addition to other charges.

According to Texarkana officials, the LCB, also know as “Loyalty Cash Business” and the “I-30 cartel” are two separate local gangs who have been working together to further their drug business.

The gangs are reported to have no relation to any known Mexican cartel.

Shawn Vaughn, public information officer for Texarkana, said these gangs have “been around for a while.”

Vaughn also said that there have been reports that many of the arrested gang members have been members since they were 12-years-old.

Local gang involvement was brought to life, officials said after the murder of Jermaine Aldridge. Aldridge was killed in 2020 at the local Chili’s parking lot in what was revealed to be “a murder for hire plot.”

From there, officials said that investigators put pieces together from the murder at Chili’s and found that it tied to a series of criminal acts.

The gangs have since been credited with involvement in the shooting of a 35-year-old victim who was shot while sitting in a car outside of a business in 2021. Minutes after another man was tied up inside his home and robbed at gunpoint by several men.

Officials said, that as police worked these cases, they were able to identify commonalities and found evidence that it all tied back to the LCB and I-30 cartel gangs and their partnership.

Both gangs were found to have involvement in the planning at execution of the murder at Chili’s, according to officials.