Federal agents in Orange County on Thursday arrested alleged gang members with ties to the notorious Mexican Mafia in a series of stunning pre-dawn raids aimed at alerting SoCal’s criminal underworld.
The federal goal was to disrupt the operations of the group, also known as La Eme, a violent prison-based “gangster” that is said to control nearly all of California’s Hispanic street gangs.
The daring arrests targeted alleged murderers, drug dealers and extortionists arrested by FBI agents from a series of residences in and around the city of Santa Ana.
Federal agents arrested the suspects, seized firearms, and seized illegal drugs.
Operating from behind bars, the Mexican Mafia imposes strict taxes on illegal drug sales, protection rackets, human trafficking and much more, directs local street crews and acts like a criminal government with deadly punishments for those who step out of line.
The Mafia acts as an intermediary between Mexican drug cartels and the so-called giant drug cartels that distribute gang products in California and beyond, including 18 drug cartels.y Street gang and MS-13.
The “13” in the gang’s name indicates its association with the Mexican Mafia, with the “M” representing the thirteenth letter in the alphabet.
Smaller gangs, including the Puente 13, Venice 13 and Florencia 13, traffic in drugs, extortion and violence at the behest of imprisoned Mexican Mafia shooters, according to law enforcement officials.
Police and federal agents say the Mafia derives its power from its ties to drug cartels and its control of the prison system.
Mafia members use conjugal visits and phone calls as channels to issue orders to those in the outside world.
Since most gang members can assume that they will be imprisoned at some point, the Mafia’s ability to kill prisoners at will ensures that its orders are followed.
Federal agents have sought in recent months to dislodge the Mexican Mafia’s grip on the Southern California drug trade and the violence associated with it.
Federal authorities targeted Puente-13 members in a series of arrests in December Members of the 18th Street Gang In a series of arrests last month.
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