Police Blitz on 'Juche' Nets Guns, Seven Arrests

Cambridge police yesterday raided a residence at 452 Franklin Street-the headquarters of the leftist newspaper Juche and the People's Information Center-arresting six men and one woman and confiscating a large quantity of guns and ammunition.

The FBI and Cambridge and Boston police had kept the house under surveillance for six months, according to a Cambridge police lieutenant who asked to remain unidentified. Cambridge police obtained a search warrant yesterday.

Twenty-five police, many of them wearing combat jackets and armed with shotguns, stormed the house after surrounding it. The group did not appear to resist arrest.

All seven arrested were charged with "knowingly being in the presence of narcotics"; one man was also charged with "illegal possession of shotguns, firearms, and ammunitions without a firearms license or identification card."

High Bail

Bail was set at $2000 per person. The lieutenant said that the bail was high because several individuals had no identification and bondsmen were unwilling to assume any risk. All seven, however, were bailed out last night.

Among the guns found were three shotguns, a 12-gauge riot gun, and a 22-calibre pellet gun. The lieutenant claimed that "there are a lot more, actually. The paddy wagon had to make two trips to pick up all the guns."

In the raid police took a record player and a box of books away from the house after removing the suspects. They also broke a window.

Collective

In addition to publishing Juche-the title is a Korean word meaning "self-reliance" -those arrested had organized a food collective and were starting a free bookstore. They worked with the Black Panthers and attempted to organize street people. Another "Juche" group lives in Somerville.

Robert Galluzzo, the group's lawyer, disputed police claims that they are guilty. "The owners of guns have registrations and firearm identification cards," he said, "so they are not worried. And it is a cardinal rule of the place that no one brings in drugs. People say that there were no drugs there when the police came, but drugs were found. Clearly this will have to be settled in court."

Those arrested were: Ronald Brazao, 23, and John Brown, 22, of Somerville; Richard M. Elwyn, 22, William S. Anderson, 22, and David Tarlo, 22, of Cambridge; Marya Merrick, 22, of Everett, Wash.: and George Katsificas, 22, of Boston.

The seven suspects will be arraigned in Middlesex Third District Court at 9 a. m. today.