July 13, 2011 Updated: 4:10 p.m.
100 arrested in gang, Mexican Mafia crackdown
The multiple arrests, which officials said included “soldiersâ€
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July 13, 2011 Updated: 4:10 p.m.
100 arrested in gang, Mexican Mafia crackdown
The multiple arrests, which officials said included “soldiersâ€
Dozens of alleged Mexican Mafia members arrested in O.C. raid
July 13, 2011 | 1:18pm
Dozens of alleged Orange County gang members were arrested Wednesday as federal and state prosecutors charged 99 people with ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang for crimes ranging from narcotics to conspiracy to commit murder.
In predawn raids, more than 500 federal and local law enforcement officers served search warrants, climaxing a 32-month probe that focused on Mexican Mafia and Costa Mesa’s Forming Kaos gang.
In a series of indictments made public Wednesday, federal prosecutors painted a picture of a large criminal enterprise overseen by an almost feudal-like lord or head of the county’s Mexican Mafia.
Local Latino gangs in cities including Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and Anaheim would be forced to pay "taxes," or tributes, to the Mexican Mafia and leader Peter Ojeda would in turn allegedly grant them territories to sell narcotics and control criminal enterprises, according to prosecutors.
The raids are an extension of a strategy already deployed against the criminal Mexican Mafia and its associated gangs in Los Angeles County.
The indictment alleges that the criminal enterprise’s hierarchy would discipline gangs and their members who engaged in unsanctioned violence or did not pay taxes as required.
Gang members who stepped out of line would be put on a “hard candyâ€
99 MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES OF MEXICAN MAFIA – AFFILIATED GANGS CHARGED IN OPERATION “BLACK FLAG.â€