Belle Glade had a problem it couldn't ignore.
The gang had been running those streets through terror for five years.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw looked those gang members in the eye Thursday and told them exactly where they were going.
What Operation Shark Bait Just Ripped Apart
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spent a year building a case against a gang called Nawf Way – also known as the Sharks – and last week they made their move.
200 law enforcement officers hit 13 homes simultaneously across Palm Beach and Hendry Counties.
Twenty suspected gang members are now sitting in jail on $2 million bonds.
The Nawf Way gang didn't start out as a major criminal enterprise.
It started as a small neighborhood clique in Belle Glade called Fourway – then grew into something far uglier.
By the time PBSO pulled the plug, the gang had grown to more than 50 members and associates and left a trail of carnage across western Palm Beach County.
The numbers speak for themselves.
103 firearms seized since 2020.
62 shootings, homicides, or attempted homicides connected to this one gang.
64 additional cases involving armed residential burglaries, armed robberies, and narcotics trafficking.
That's not a neighborhood dispute.
That's a criminal organization holding an entire community hostage.
"These crimes are committed by the gang to generate income, assert territorial control over their areas, and retaliate against rival groups," Capt. Michael Ott said at Thursday's press conference.
"They're also done to instill fear in their community."
The Mob Lawyer's Nightmare: RICO Charges
Prosecutors didn't go small.
The Nawf Way members are facing racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering – the same legal sledgehammer that dismantled the New York Mafia in the 1980s.
RICO – the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – was designed specifically to take down criminal organizations rather than just individual criminals.
Under RICO, prosecutors can tie years of crimes together into a single sweeping case and pursue the organization itself, not just the foot soldiers.
Florida's RICO statute makes it a first-degree felony carrying up to 30 years in state prison.
And here's what that means for the Nawf Way defendants: detectives assembled a 92-page probable cause affidavit built from five years of criminal investigations, intercepted communications, gang identifiers, and social media activity showing members bragging about shootings and arranging illegal weapons transfers.
https://twitter.com/JeniferJuniper1/status/2060074532572889208?s=20
The FBI was in on Operation Shark Bait too – which means federal resources and federal pressure are now aimed directly at anyone still running with this crew.
A $2 million bond doesn't set easily.
Bradshaw's Warning and What Comes Next
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw didn't mince words at Thursday's press conference.
"They think they own the streets," Bradshaw said. "They don't own the streets. The community owns those streets, and that's why we do what we do. The message to the bad guys is it's not a matter of if we're going to get you – it's a matter of when. Because we have a room reserved for you right back here at my hotel."
Bradshaw has run Palm Beach County law enforcement since 2004 and has spent two decades organizing gang task forces, tracking illegal firearms networks, and locking up human traffickers.
He's not bluffing.
The seven firearms recovered during the May 21 raids add to the 103 already seized from known associates over five years.
Detectives also walked out with approximately $10,000 in cash and trafficking quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana.
Every gram of that fentanyl was destined for a neighborhood in Palm Beach County.
Bradshaw made clear the operation isn't finished – more arrests are coming.
While Democrat-run cities spent the last five years defunding police, banning gang databases, and releasing violent offenders without bail, Palm Beach County built a gang task force, partnered with the FBI, and put 20 gang members on $2 million bonds in a single morning.
That's the difference between communities that back their sheriffs and cities that don't.
The Nawf Way thought it owned Belle Glade.
Turns out it was renting.
Sources:
- Rachael Perry, "OFFICIALS: Florida gang grew into violent criminal enterprise, 20 suspected members arrested," WPBF 25 News, May 29, 2026.
- Staff Report, "PBSO charges 13 in alleged 'Nawf Way' gang racketeering case in Belle Glade," CBS12, May 2026.
- Staff Report, "Palm Beach County gang 'Nawf Way' dismantled in Operation Shark Bait: 20+ Arrested," WPTV, May 28, 2026.
- Staff Report, "Violent Palm Beach gang dismantled in 'Operation Shark Bait,' sheriff says," NBC Miami, May 29, 2026.
- Staff Report, "11 suspected gang members arrested under RICO law," CBS12, August 2024.
