L.A. Gang members arrested in racketeering case

By THOMAS WATKINS Associated Press Writer
Posted: 08/25/2010 10:17:17 AM PDT
Updated: 08/25/2010 10:49:06 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES—Authorities descended on a South Los Angeles housing project Wednesday and arrested dozens of gang members indicted for murders, drug dealing and attacks on police officers in a racketeering case.
Prosecutors said the Pueblo Bishops Bloods, whose name is derived from the Pueblo del Rio housing project, have for years terrorized the community.

A member of the gang and another person drove into rival gang territory on Sept. 5, 2006, and shot into a crowd of family and friends of a murder victim who were cleaning his blood from the street, according to the indictment. One person was wounded.

In an attack in August 2009, two members of the gang drove to a car wash in rival gang territory and fatally shot a man in front of his 2-year-old son, prosecutors said.

Forty-one people were named for various crimes in the federal indictment, and more than two dozen were arrested by federal and local authorities in the early morning sweep.

Much of the evidence in the case was gathered using wiretaps.

The Pueblo Bishops gang was formed in the 1970s and has about 300 active members and associates. The housing project includes more than 600 apartments along with a preschool and elementary school.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15890393