Gang News Round Up

Weekly Gang Roundup:

• Mexican Mafia;


• Top-6;


• Ace Click;


• SUR-13;


• Valentine Bloods;


• Gangster Disciples;


• MS-13

*** In San Diego County, CA police arrested 40 people, including more than a dozen allegedly tied to the Mexican Mafia, on charges including attempted murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking after a year-long investigation dubbed "Operation Keys to the City" that targeted the notorious prison gang:

U.S. Attorney General Karen Hewitt described the Mexican Mafia and its connection to Latino street gangs as a rigid hierarchy comprised of "members," "associates" and "soldiers" whose criminal enterprise spills into the community.

Some of the alleged crimes involved paying "taxes," which officials say is the term used by gang members who use violent acts to extort payments from victims.

* * * FBI Special Agent-In-Charge Keith Slotter said the arrests in the operation have dealt a blow to the Mexican Mafia by disrupting the criminal enterprise.

"These operations are not just a bunch of low level criminals that were caught up in a sweep," Slotter said. "These are dangerous, extremely violent individuals."

• Hewitt said members of the Mexican Mafia are elected by fellow gang members and are the top of the hierarchy.


• They are followed by associates, many of whom are in custody and who are given the authority or "the keys," by members of the prison gang to order crimes in a neighborhood, city or prison yard, Hewitt said.


• Next come the soldiers, the low-level street gang members believed to be in the thousands who carry out and enforce the orders of the associates, she said.

Four men are being sought pursuant to the investigation and are considered fugitives:

• David Garcia, 43;
• Jorge Lerma-Duenas, 40
• Ernest Soqui, 32;
• Lance Agundez, 38.
  

*** In San Bernardino County, CA a reputed member of the Mexican Mafia charged with conspiring to murder a fellow gangster is missing after failing to appear for a court appearance:

*** Palm Beach County, FL "is home to about 160 gangs, mostly made up of local, neighborhood 'hybrid' gangs not recognized nationally," and "national gangs" including:

• Top 6: A Lake Worth-based gang responsible for several homicides and shootings. The gang, which claimed to be a rap group, grew from six members in 2000 to more than 300.
• Ace Click: A West Palm Beach-based gang that has been in the city since 1998 and is known for drug trafficking and violence. The gang is also known for participating in a Gangstas & Thugs video. The video series show scenes of violence and gun flaunting in West Palm Beach and other areas.
• SUR-13: A gang that operated in the Westgate neighborhood west of West Palm Beach. The gang, known for robberies, drive-by shootings, beatings and drug dealing, originated in southern California and answers to a prison gang known as the Mexican Mafia.

*** In Bradenton, FL the racketeering trial against alleged SUR-13 member Jimmie Sanchez has begun:
Sanchez . . . was arrested in July 2007 during "Operation Tidal Wave," an anti-gang racketeering case made by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and the statewide prosecutor's office against reputed members of the SUR-13 street gang.

The project signaled a new tactic by the sheriff's office to fight a gang population that reportedly numbers more than 600 members.

• The approach targets the gangs as ongoing criminal enterprises.

Of the 14 SUR-13 defendants charged, 13 of them avoided lengthy prison sentences by accepting plea deals with prosecutors.

*** In Pasco County, FL authorities have busted alleged members of the Valentine Bloods gang:
With Wednesday's announcement of eight members indicted on federal drug and gun charges, law enforcement officers are hoping the local branch of the nationwide gang has been crippled. *

* * The men face a total of 24 counts of federal firearms and drug charges, including trafficking. Some of those indicted could face as much as life behind bars.

* * * The eight indicted, according to ATF Special Agent in Charge Virginia O'Brien, have been arrested a total of 120 times and and have 20 previous convictions among them.

* * * Currently, it's thought that the local set of the Valentine Bloods has 50 to 60 active members and associates in West Pasco.

*** Police in Memphis, TN have indicted 30 people on drug trafficking charges, and more than half of them are members of the Gangster Disciples:

• Police had 22 of those charged under arrest and were looking for the others. Officers also seized an unannounced amount of drugs and at least 19 guns, including a half-dozen assault-type rifles.
• The accused have a total of 75 prior felony convictions, police said, and more than half are members of the Gangster Disciples street gang.
• Five have been convicted of robbery or aggravated robbery and more than half have been charged with firearm offenses. Three have convictions for second-degree murder.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles, CA have filed a lawsuit "aimed at curtailing gang and narcotics activity at a Pico-Union apartment complex that authorities contend is the epicenter of the Mara Salvatrucha gang's empire":

Four alleged members of MS-13 were arrested in Houston, TX:

• "The men are from Mara-Salvatrucha. This is a Central American gang that has come into the U.S. It is taking over different cities," said an undercover special agent from Houston's FBI.
• Mara Salvatrucha is also known as MS-13, and they are one of the most violent gangs in the United States.
• In Houston, authorities say there are up to 15 groups of MS-13 members committing violent crimes.
• The men were arrested following an investigation after a complaint by several women at a beauty salon who allegedly had been robbed and extorted by the gang: The women worked at a beauty salon near Fondren and Westheimer. They say that last month, MS-13 gang members held them up. Then they took their money, stole their property, and raped one of the victims. But before the gunmen left, the gang members told the women their salon would have to pay $100 a week for protection.

According to the undercover FBI agent, this is what worries law enforcement the most. "Once they come over, they get a hold of some of these businesses and they start receiving additional income.

• Then, the groups start getting stronger and they bring more people into the group," said the special agent.
• A week later, the MS-13 group returned to the salon to collect their extortion money, but the women locked the doors.
• Police say the gang members retaliated by driving by and opening fire. "It took us about two weeks to crack group. We kept on them," said the special agent. In all, seven people, including a 15-year-old boy, have been taken into custody.
• During the arrest, the task force found guns, ammunition, a machete and written plans to conduct another robbery.
  

*** Illinois legislators "hope to blot out inked criminals with legislation cracking down on tattoo parlors":

• Tattoo artists who draw gang symbols could be stuck with a fine and see their licenses revoked. The bill's author, state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, wants to cross out the growing influence of street gangs across Illinois.

In Chicago, IL violent crime, including murder, is up from last year, and "police believe one of the reasons for this is an increase in violence among gangs":

• Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis says the city's gang structure is changing and it's become more challenging to fight it.
• The police superintendent believes the up-tick in gang violence may - oddly enough - be the result of success in dismantling larger street gangs.
• "Where you might have a larger territory controlled by one gang, now that same territory may have multiple smaller cells, all very violent, but they're competing and fighting even between themselves or with rival gangs. You've got smaller independent gangs fighting over smaller turf," Supt. Jody Weis, Chicago Police Department.

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