10 held in drug, gun sting

Ten members and associates of one of the largest Los Angeles street gangs were arrested Thursday in a twoday operation targeting the distribution and sale of narcotics and the unlawful sale of weapons.

The cooperative effort by the Department of Homeland Security, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department began Tuesday and progressed into Wednesday with the arrests of eight suspects. The remaining two will be extradited from Honolulu and Indianapolis.

Three others facing similar charges were already in custody, and a search for five additional suspects continues, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Federal prosecutors said the indictments followed a more than two-year investigation.

Authorities said nearly 9 pounds of methamphetamine and 14 firearms, including five assault rifles, were seized.

Among the arrests were Giovanny Ochoa, 26, of Hawthorne and Aveline Villalba, 36, of South Los Angeles. Both were charged in a February indictment with selling about a quarterpound of meth to undercover authorities. Ochoa is also suspected in another narcotics transaction.

Ochoa and Villalba each face a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term with the possibility of life if convicted of the narcotics and weapons charges.

The eight local suspects have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty.