Raids target street gangs, Mexican Mafia prison gang; 26 hit with federal charges
Predawn raids target street gangs, Mexican Mafia prison gang; 26 hit with federal charges
Alex Riggins Contact Reporter
Hundreds of federal agents and local law enforcement officers conducted dozens of predawn raids across the county Thursday, arresting alleged gang members and others with suspected gang ties on drug, gun, racketeering and other charges, authorities said.
The raids were part of a yearlong investigation targeting alleged members of several San Diego-area street gangs and the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang. Federal charges were levied Thursday against 26 defendants.
Twenty of those suspects were in custody as of late Thursday afternoon, with those nabbed during the early-morning raids joining some others who were previously arrested. Six remained at large.
During the lengthy investigation — dubbed “Operation Sureño Sweep” — the region’s Violent Crimes Gang Task Force seized nearly 230 firearms and seven pounds of methamphetamine, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.
Also as part of the long-term operation, a gang suppression team from the San Diego Police Department intercepted a trio of armed suspects in June as they drove to kidnap a rival gang member, federal prosecutors said.
In total, six complaints were filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, with some of the 26 defendants named in just one complaint, and others in multiple complaints.
The charges include racketeering, methamphetamine trafficking, a methamphetamine conspiracy charge, unlawful possession of a machine gun and other drug and gun charges.
One of the complaints charged Robert Thomas Welsh with unlawful possession of a machine gun and possessing a firearm with the serial number destroyed.
According to prosecutors, a search warrant executed by Special Enforcement deputies from the county Sheriff’s Department turned up 228 firearms at Welsh’s Lakeside residence.
Included in the enormous stash of weapons, according to prosecutors, were AR-15 rifles, silencers, guns with destroyed serial numbers, high-capacity magazines — including a 50-round drum magazine — and a device known as a “Glock switch” that converts a semi-automatic pistol into an automatic pistol.
“The seizure of hundreds of firearms is a very significant strike against gang violence in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said in a statement.
In another episode that was part of the investigation, a San Diego Police Department gang suppression team made a late-night traffic stop on a Hummer on June 13 on Jamacha Boulevard in Spring Valley. But according to prosecutors, this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill traffic stop.
It was an interception of three armed men on their way to rob and kidnap a rival gang member.
Investigators knew about the “hit,” which was ordered against a man known as “Grizzly from Palm City,” after listening in on conversations via court-approved surveillance, prosecutors said. The kidnapping was allegedly ordered on behalf of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, whose members believed the kidnapping target had stolen a laptop and other items from one of their associates.
Inside the Hummer during the “high-risk vehicle stop,” officers found suspects Fady Esho, Sergio “Shaggy” Sanchez and Jose “Chapo” Hernandez, prosecutors said.
According to the complaint, Esho was carrying a loaded Sig Saur .40-caliber handgun in a concealed holster on his waist, two filled magazines in separate holsters and multiple zip ties in his rear pants pocket.
Three additional handguns were also found inside the Hummer, prosecutors said. Esho claimed all the guns were his.
Thursday’s predawn sweep involved more than 200 agents from the FBI and other federal agencies, sheriff’s deputies from San Diego County and police officers from San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, La Mesa and El Cajon.
The 20 defendants who were in custody Thursday were arraigned in U.S. District Court. All pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors have asked a judge to order the defendants held in custody until they are tried, with a hearing set next week for a judge to rule on that motion.
At least six defendants named in the federal complaint remained at large as of Thursday evening, prosecutors said. They were identified as Maria Caniglia, Christina Tovar, Farren “Sweetpea” Alcoser, Soledad “Negra” Mota, Tony Kiryakoza and Candice “Baby Doll” Apra.
Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts was asked to call the FBI’s San Diego field office at (858) 320-1800.
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