More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday.
The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office.
A total of 43 people have been indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion, running an illegal gambling operation and drug trafficking, prosecutors said.
Officers seized 120lbs (54kg) of methamphetamine, more than 8lbs (4kg) of fentanyl, along with 25 firearms and more than $30,000 in cash, officials said.
The Mexican mafia was started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion from inside California’s penal system.
The indictment alleges one leader who was incarcerated used contraband cellphones to oversee the Mexican mafia’s criminal activities from his prison cell from June 2024 to April this year. He directed street gang members to kidnap and assault people, according to court documents. The gang also allegedly sold drugs including fentanyl, meth, heroin and cocaine.
“It ran illegal gambling businesses within commercial strip malls and private residences,” the US attorney’s office said in a statement. “The gang collected extortionate taxes and provided security, including the use of violence, to protect the illegal gambling businesses.”
The gang is also suspected of a murder at a “gang-controlled” motel in Anaheim, according to the indictment.
“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” said first assistant United States attorney Bill Essayli.
The defendants will begin making their initial appearances in the coming days in federal court in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
