The John Does got an identity Thursday. Police took the mask off the fearsome Liberty City gang, unveiling federal drug, gun and money-laundering charges that could send 15 accused street gangsters to prison for life.

Among the accusations: five murders, including that of Cynthia Brown, a government witness killed in 1997 two days before her scheduled testimony against Corey Smith, the reputed leader of the John Does.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Scott said the John Doe charges - announced with a second indictment against the rival Cloud Nine drug gang - reflect a sophisticated 15-month law enforcement effort to "take back the streets from drug dealers" by using wiretaps, surveillance and multiagency shoe leather.

"These two indictments represent a major blow to two of the most significant narcotics gangs operating in Liberty City, and in the case of the John Doe organization, perhaps, by far, the most violent, " Scott said at a news conference.

"Some may ask, won't another gang just step up and take the place of the John Does and Cloud Nines of the world?" he said. "They want to face us with [the threat of] life imprisonment charges? We're willing to take them on."

More than 200 police officers and federal agents fanned out across Miami-Dade County early Thursday, seeking 25 people. Eight were already in jail on other charges, one was in the hospital paralyzed from a gunshot wound, and 12 were picked up at home or on the streets. Four are still at large.

Miami Police, who started the probe, said the John Doe gang has controlled a substantial part of the powdered cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana trade in Liberty City and Overtown since at least 1994.

Members operated at least 11 "drug holes" - Scott called them "convenience stores" for drugs - and used deadly force to expand and consolidate their territory, investigators said.

The Cloud Nine gang also sold drugs, police said, but the 10 members under indictment are not accused of violence.

The John Doe indictment accuses gang members of killing five people in the course of drug trafficking:

* Leon Hadley, a rival drug dealer shot to death Aug. 21, 1995, allegedly by Smith and two other men.

* Calvin Cook, shot to death Sept. 28, 1996, by three members, allegedly "following the orders of Corey Smith."

* Dominique Johnson, a rival drug dealer shot to death Nov. 7, 1996, allegedly by Smith.

* Brown, the key witness to Johnson's murder, killed July 23, 1997, two days before she was scheduled to testify against Smith, who allegedly "arranged for and caused the murder." Brown's death forced prosecutors to drop a murder charge against Smith.

* Marlon Beneby, a John Doe drug seller, who was shot July 23, 1998, and died later, allegedly at the hands of Smith's No. 2 man, Latravis Gallashaw, in a "dispute concerning profits from drug sales."

The John Does hit the streets in the early '90s, when they went by the name Lynch Mob. Members sold drug paraphernalia and were enforcers for other gangs. Eventually, they began selling marijuana. They acquired their own drug holes and employees, branching out into cocaine and crack.

"Like all corporations, they just got stronger and stronger, " said Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick White, who is coordinating the prosecution.

When the group's former leader was arrested for murder, Smith took over, White said. The indictment alleges Smith oversaw a network of lieutenants, street sellers, lookouts and "table men" who packaged drugs for distribution.

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