CA Boys And Girls Club Closed Due To Alleged Mexican Mafia Drug Activity

https://external-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/sa...fs=1&upscale&l



CA Boys And Girls Club Closed Due To Alleged Mexican Mafia Drug Activity
Putting Kids Back Out On The Streets
dmldaily.com

Boys & Girls Club Closed Due To Alleged Mexican Mafia Activity

By SFC Drake
on Sep 3, 2014

http://www.dmldaily.com/wp-content/u...9.03.05-AM.png


Related Posts

• Russian Gang Stealing Billions of Personal Profiles
• 4 Gang Members Charged in killing of VA. Cop

The Board of Directors voted to close a Boys and Girls Club in El Monte after a DEA indictment claims the club was a center where potential Mexican Mafia gang members openly held meetings and sold drugs.
Chairs were empty Monday where children, under different circumstances, would have gone to socialize and play — in part to help keep them off the streets.
“It should be filled with kids, it should be filled with kids today,” Executive Director Clay Hollopeter said.
Hollopeter suggests that the indictment holds no weight, and that the closing of the club’s doors may have been politically motivated.
“They thought they had to do something, so by closing the club, they’ve done something,” Hollopeter said. “But what they’ve done, really, is hurt the kids.”
A number of former members of the El Monte Boys and Girls Club came out Monday and told CBS2 that they never saw anything to suggest gang or drug activity there, and agree with Hollopeter that the club’s closing is detrimental to the kids.
“I learned how to be sociable in Boys and Girls Club, get along with next door neighbors, be presentable,” Adam Perez said. “You know why we came here? To play basketball!”
Volunteer Mayra Jimenez, meanwhile, says that she worries about the teenaged boys she now sees on the street, and who used to be in the club.
“Now that they don’t have a place to come, they’re just outside, doing nothing,” Jimenez said.
Police shared a statement, suggesting the goal is to continue the club’s efforts in the future.
“Although the city does not have formal jurisdiction over the club, we are working closely with the club’s leadership to address the issues raised, and to help guide their future activities.”
Meanwhile, Hollopeter, lacking any real strategy or plan, says he still hopes to reopen the club’s doors, and has an idea of what that will take.
“It’s going to take pressure, I think.”

Source: KTLA

http://www.dmldaily.com/ca-boys-and-...drug-activity/

El Monte Boys & Girls Club shutters doors amid gang activity allegations

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/k...61_630x354.jpg

The El Monte Boys & Girls Club has shuttered its doors after allegations of gang activity taking place at the facility.

http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/assets/ne...gos/origin.png
Q McCray and Greg Lee
Monday, September 01, 2014
EL MONTE, Calif. (KABC) --
Video at the page link:

The El Monte Boys & Girls Club has shuttered its doors after allegations gang members with ties to the Mexican Mafia held meetings and sold drugs at the community center.

Executive director Clay Hollopeter confirmed the board voted last week to close the facility to the public and end all of its on-site youth programs. He denied the allegations of gang affiliation and said the club was being unfairly punished.

"(The kids) can't do their homework now in the computer room, they can't play soccer," Hollopeter said. "For many of them, this was their home away from home."

A federal racketeering indictment released last month alleges at least 41 members of gang El Monte Flores used the club to meet, sell drugs and collect extortion "taxes." El Monte Flores members were reported to be linked to the Mexican Mafia.

The club has been under investigation for at least two years. In 2012, it lost its charter after Drug Enforcement Administration agents notified the Boy & Girls Clubs of America about the alleged gang activity.

As a result, the El Monte facility changed its name to the Boys Club of San Gabriel.

Hollopeter says the club is being punished for activity that happens around their property, not in it. In fact, the club's managers blame the El Monte Police Department. A sign on the door says they were forced to close because the police department resents the work.

"Although the city does not have formal jurisdiction over the club, we are working closely with the club's leadership to address the issues raised and to help guide their future activities to ensure they are appropriate for their organizations mission and the surrounding community," the El Monte Police Department said in a statement to Eyewitness News.

One member of the community says he has seen too many bad things happen around the club.

"I know that there's a lot of gang activity here so I usually stay away myself," Andy Sanchez of El Monte said.

Hollopeter stands by his program and its safety. He says closing it will do nothing but make the gang problem bigger.

"They think if we close for a while, it will go away," Hollopeter said. "Well, it certainly won't go away, it'll get worse."

Officials hope to reopen the club at the beginning of next year. Meanwhile, a food bank program is expected to remain open.

Map My News


http://abc7.com/289256/