federal agents They arrested 30 alleged gang members linked to the Mexican Mafia on Thursday in a series of shocking dawn raids, aimed at dismantling this group in Southern California.
Under the name of “Operation Gangster’s Paradise”federal authorities sought to dismantle the operations of the group, also known as La Eme, a violent prison-based criminal organization that supposedly controls nearly all of California’s Hispanic street gangs.
The arrests targeted alleged murderers, drug traffickers and extortionistsdetained by FBI agents at several residences in and around the city of Santa Ana.
“This morning, we executed Operation Gangster’s Paradise.” We have charged forty members and associates of the Mexican Mafia“The most powerful and prolific gang that operates from state prisons,” said Bill Essayli, chief federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.
“They control and direct all the Hispanic street gangs in the neighborhoods,” he added.
Federal agents, in collaboration with local police, They arrested suspects, confiscated firearms and seized illegal drugs.
Operating from prison, the Mexican Mafia imposes strict taxes on illicit drug sales, extortion, human trafficking and more, directing local street gangs and acting as a criminal government that imposes deadly punishments on those who deviate from the norm, The Current York Submit reported.
The Mafia serves as an intermediary between the Mexican drug cartels and the so-called drug trafficking super gangs. who distribute cartel products in California and elsewhere.
According to authorities, smaller gangs, such as Puente-13, Venecia-13 and Florencia-13, also engage in drug trafficking, extortion and violence under the orders of imprisoned Mexican Mafia leaders.
The Mafia derives its power from both its connections to drug cartels and its protection over the prison system, police and federal agents say.
Mafia members use conjugal visits and telephone calls as channels to give orders to those who are out of prison.
Since most gang members assume they will go to prison at some point, the Mafia’s ability to kill inmates at will ensures that its orders are carried out.
In recent months, federal agents have attempted to dismantle the Mexican Mafia’s protective watch over drug trafficking and associated violence in Southern California.
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