Thread: Feds: Sweep Nets Dozens Of Mexican Mafia Members

Federal prosecutors say 33 arrests have made a major dent in a notorious prison gang.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/index.html

Bearpaw
can you post the article please? For some reason, I can't get it to come up in the window.

SAN DIEGO -- A long-term probe targeting Latino street gangs with ties to the Mexican Mafia resulted in 36 people being charged in five federal indictments, which were unsealed Friday.

In one indictment, 22 individuals were charged with participating in a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization, or RICO, conspiracy.

According to that indictment, the defendants engaged in multiple racketeering acts in furtherance of the Mexican Mafia criminal enterprise, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, robbery, extortion and conspiracy to import drugs into the United States.

The Mexican Mafia, the self-proclaimed "Gang of All Gangs," started in the 1950s in a prison in Northern California as a way for Mexican-American convicts to control Hispanic street-gang activity, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Daniel R. Dzwilewski.


"The Mexican Mafia is a significant threat to the public and law enforcement," Dzwilewski said. "Simply put, they are urban street terrorists, who rule by violence.

"They are the closest thing to traditional organized crime in San Diego, and by utilizing the RICO conspiracy statute, we are able to disrupt and dismantle this criminal menace."

By charging the defendants in the federal system, the network of the Mexican Mafia in the state penal system will be disrupted, said Assistant

"The Mexican Mafia has infected our prisons and our neighborhoods," said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. "Any organization built on violence and drugs has to be dismantled, and Friday we begin that process."

Among those indicted is Raul Leon, 41, who is in Pelican Bay State Prison and is said to be one of the so-called shot callers -- someone who has the authority to make decisions for the Mexican Mafia, Robinson said.
Copyright 2006 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.10news.com/news/9385153/detail.html

2ndamendsis,

Bearpaw
can you post the article please? For some reason, I can't get it to come up in the window.

The NBC URL takes a few seconds for the video to come up, no article is included. However I went to 10News and found the same article and posted it below.

Originally Posted by bearpaw

2ndamendsis,

Bearpaw
can you post the article please? For some reason, I can't get it to come up in the window.

The NBC URL takes a few seconds for the video to come up, no article is included. However I went to 10News and found the same article and posted it below.

Thanx so much

2ndamendsis,

You're welcome

It's pretty scary learning that this group has been living and thriving in San Diego. Good thing we live inland.