The FBI and local authorities have arrested at least two dozen Mexican Mafia members and associates operating in Orange County, according to the federal agency.
In an operation Thursday morning, FBI agents executed arrest warrants in Southern California in connection with the federal indictments, according to agency spokeswoman Laura Eimler. Forty-seven people have been convicted in the case.
in an interview with abc7 newsFirst Assistant US Atty. Bill Essaly said federal agents were executing search warrants and arrest warrants at about 30 locations. He said authorities have indicted about 40 people, of whom about 10 are already in custody.
Essay described the Mexican Mafia as “the largest and most powerful gang operating from inside the state’s prisons.” Essaly said the charges include drug distribution, assault and a murder.
“They operate neighborhood gangs throughout the community,” he told the news outlet outside a home in Long Beach. The resident has been convicted of five charges related to the distribution of fentanyl, Essaly said.
Santa Ana City Police Chief Robert Rodriguez told ABC7 that the operation involved the OC Gang Task Force and was part of a “complex two-year investigation involving organized crime in our city and other cities in the county.”
Law enforcement officials will provide more details about the operation at a news conference Thursday morning.
