25 arrested in MS-13 gang operation
Members have terrorized Central Valley town of Mendota
LOS ANGELES – More than two dozen suspected MS-13 gang members operating in a Central Valley town east of Fresno, as well as in Los Angeles were arrested in a monthslong multiagency operation that culminated this week, authorities said.
Suspected members of the transnational criminal organization were arrested on charges including murder, assault, kidnapping and drug trafficking, according to federal authorities and court documents unsealed Thursday.
Fifteen people were charged with participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy, while the others were charged with a variety of crimes, including stabbing a rival gang member, U.S. attorney Mcgregor W. Scott said Friday at a news conference in Fresno.
Two men have been charged with the 2017 slaying of a man in Fresno County, Scott said.
During their investigation, law enforcement investigators seized seven guns, 56 knives and 10 machetes in addition to cellphones and drugs from inside 11 prisons, he said.
At least two MS-13 “cliques” affiliated with the Los Angeles branch of the gang operate in the small Central Valley town of Mendota east of Fresno, according to two federal indictments unsealed Thursday. More than 14 homicides since 2015 are believed to be related to MS-13 in Mendota, according to court documents.
Scott said that a team of local, state and federal investigators uncovered evidence of more than 30 homicides and assaults from Las Vegas to New York that have been tied to the gang.
“If you want to commit crime in California, we will find you,” said state Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “If you want to terrorize our families and our communities, we will get you.
“If you traffic human beings or drugs, you’re in our sights,” he said. “If you illegally possess firearms, you’re in our sights, and if you terrorize families through criminal gang activities, you are in our sights.”
Two alleged gang members – Israel Rivas Gomez, known as “Pirra,” and a John Doe known as “Marcos Castro” – were charged by a grand jury in January with murder in connection with the Dec. 18 death of a person known as “A.R.” in Fresno County. The new court records say the two men used the slaying to increase their position within the MS-13 gang.
Three other men – Luis Reynaldo Reyes Castillo, known as “Molesto”; Jose Audon Reyes Barrera, known as “Calacas”; and Nilson Israel Reyes Mendoza – were charged in April by a grand jury with assault with a deadly weapon in an attack on suspected rival gang members in May 2017.