Thread: Los Angeles: Up to 30 gang members arrested in MS-13 sweep

Up to 30 gang members arrested in MS-13 sweep

Hundreds of FBI and L.A. officers join forces across the city in a crackdown on the violent El Salvadoran organization.

By Greg Krikorian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
1:06 PM PST, November 15, 2007
Hundreds of FBI agents and Los Angeles police fanned out across the city early this morning in what authorities described as one of the largest crackdowns to date on the notorious El Salvadoran street gang known as MS-13.

More than 30 alleged gang members were arrested in the sweep, the latest in a series of law enforcement actions taken nationwide to counter a gang linked to dozens of killings and other violent crimes in the U.S.

Authorities had mistakenly said earlier that they had arrested as many as 70 alleged gang members. They expect to make more arrests.

The federal enforcement actions in this country and Central America have been coordinated by a special gang task force in Washington.

Given the gang's activities, authorities said that today's arrests were for a variety of crimes and aimed to disrupt the gang's criminal enterprise in Los Angeles. The alleged crimes include drug trafficking, parole violations, immigration issues and other violations of law that are serious enough to warrant arrests.

The crackdown focused on the gang's activities and members in the Rampart and Hollywood areas of Los Angeles, as well as in Lawndale, Burbank and Huntington Park, authorities said.

Agencies involved in the sweep included the Los Angeles Police Department, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the county Probation Department.

Also playing a role was the deputy general of El Salvador's national police force, which has worked closely with the U.S. in law enforcement efforts.

The arrests mark the latest in coordinated efforts to crack down on violent gang members. Last month, federal authorities announced the arrests of more than 1,300 alleged gang members and their associates during a three-month crackdown in 23 cities, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

Thirty-seven arrests were made in Los Angeles and 128 in San Diego in the "summer surge" operation, which began June 1.

The largest number of individuals arrested this summer were reputed members or associates of the Mara Salvatrucha organization, commonly referred to as MS-13. It is one of the most violent and rapidly growing trans-national street gangs.

www.latimes.com

Too Little Too Late.... as a conservative Republican... I want Bush and Chertoff ARRESTED and a Trial as soon as possible while we clean up the mess they created.. for every death from these wacko gang members, for every crime, for every theft .. I want these two nut cases charged as an accomplice

I agree Airborne. California has become a cesspool and we can thank Bush. Over the last few years I've seen more illegals than ever ( and thats pretty bad for California). Look what this is costing the taxpayers. Millions upon millions to have to go after these thugs. The idiots in Congress have allowed this to happen and it is treasonous! And they want PATH TO CITIZENSHIP!!! Its unbelievable.

Bet we Mexifornians could assemble a nice eye-opening tour for all elected officials to travel eh?

Jean, I've often thought the same thing. We need to do a "before" and "after" and let everyone know what its like. The clowns on the hill are clueless criminals. The city where I was born,Lynwood is now nothing more than a sanctuary city. All of California will be latin america before long. Just a tragedy.

I think all cities in CA are sanctuary cities which equals to a sanctuary state. And if the other states continue passing laws we're really going to get hammered.

Thats true. At least there is hope in some states,like Oklahoma...maybe we'll all end up there.

There are so many of us on this board who would like to move to Okahoma, we could start a new city! Alpac City, Alipacia, or Alipacville! What do ya think?? We could all be friends and call each other by our alipac handles! Tsk. Tsk.

Do any Mexifornians, uh-hum, sorry; I meant Californians ( ) know if the author -

By Greg Krikorian, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

is any relation to Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) in metro DC? Pure coincidence the last names are identical I thought...

Only 30? They could arrest 3000 and not get them all.