Federal agents in Orange County on Thursday arrested alleged gang members with ties to the infamous Mexican Mafia in a series of stunning predawn raids meant to put SoCal’s criminal underworld on notice.
The feds aimed to disrupt the operations of the group, also known as La Eme, a violent, prison-based “gang of gangs” said to control almost all Hispanic street gangs in California.
The daring arrests targeted alleged murders, drug dealers and racketeers taken by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from a series of residences in and around the city of Santa Ana.
Federal agents arrested suspects, confiscated firearms and seized illegal drugs.
Operating from behind bars, the Mexican Mafia enforces strict taxes on illicit drug sales, protection rackets, human trafficking and more, directing local street crews and acting as a criminal government that deals out deadly punishments to those who step out of line.
The Mafia serves as a go-between for the Mexican drug cartels and the so-called narco supergangs that distribute the cartels’ products in California and beyond,including the 18thStreet Gang and MS-13.
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The “13” in the gang’s nameidentifies its tie to the Mexican Mafia, with the letter “M” the 13th letter in the alphabet.
Smaller gangs, including Puente-13, Venice-13 and Florencia-13, also deal in drugs, extortion and violence at the behest of incarcerated shot-callers in the Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials.
The Mafia derives its power from both from its connections to the drug cartels and its control over the prison system, police and federal agents say.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
