10 men indicted in street gang war
Ten men who hunted down and killed rival gang members in San Francisco and Richmond between 2006 and 2013 have been indicted on racketeering, assault, firearms, murder and attempted murder charges, officials said Friday.
The defendants are all alleged members of the street gangs known as the 19th Street Sureños and the 16th Street Sureños — violent offshoots of the Mexican Mafia prison gang that for years has battled its rival Norteños in San Francisco’s Mission District. They are responsible for nine attempted murders and seven murders, including the slaying of a 16year-old boy at a birthday party in Richmond in 2009, according to the indictment.
Six of the defendants were picked up in the Mission on Thursday when more than 200 federal agents and San Francis-
co police descended on the neighborhood, officials said during a Friday news conference.
A seventh defendant was in custody in Santa Clara County Jail and three more defendants were in custody in federal prison, officials said.
All 10 men are accused of violently defending their territory in San Francisco, where authorities said they sold hard drugs, committed assaults and robberies, committed drive-by shootings and carried firearms and other dangerous weapons.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not identify the victims or elaborate on the circumstances of the crimes in the indictment.
“Today, begins the long-awaited path to justice for the victims of these murders and their families and friends they left behind,” federal Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Ryan Spradlin said at Friday’s news conference.
The defendants are: Jonathan Aguilar, 31, Luis Cid-Salinas, 33, Juan Carlos Gallardo, 29, Josue Gonzalez, 36, Orlando Hernandez, 35, Michael Rebolledo, 30, Mario Reyes, 38, Luis Rojas, 31, Eddy Urbina, 29, and Weston Venegas, 30.
The arrests were the culmination of eight years of investigative work. The San Francisco Police Department had requested help with the cases and resources from Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal enforcement division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Homeland Security Investigations’ 6,200 agents deal with cross-border criminal activity, including human trafficking, financial crimes, transnational gang activity and weapons and drug smuggling.
“We hope that these arrests will bring a measure of comfort and healing to the families of the victims, many of whom have waited years for justice,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said.
Spradlin added that he hopes Friday’s announcement will clarify what he called “misconceptions” about Homeland Security Investigations, following months of public scrutiny stemming from collateral arrests of undocumented people during a 2017 gang crackdown in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz police that February assisted Homeland Security agents in the widely publicized raids. It was later revealed federal agents not only arrested suspected MS-13 gang members, but others who were suspected of no other crime but being in the country illegally.
Santa Cruz’s then-police chief and its mayor apologized and said federal officials lied to them about the scope of the joint operation, adding they would no longer work with Homeland Security.
Then in August, plainclothes federal immigration agents executed a search warrant during a human-trafficking investigation in Oakland, while local police assisted by blocking traffic in the area.
The incident caused an uproar among several immigrant rights groups wary after the Santa Cruz raids and prompted city leaders to pass legislation restricting the Police Department’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration agents.
On Friday, Scott said “there were no collateral arrests” associated with the latest investigation and said his department was “steadfast” in upholding San Francisco’s sanctuary policies — which prohibit city law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement.
Spradlin said Homeland Security has “found a way” to work with San Francisco police to avoid violating city and state immigration policy, while still investigating and enforcing laws concerning certain criminal activity.
“We do not initiate or participate in cases because of someone’s immigration status,” he said. “When HSI initiates or gets involved in a case, it’s because of someone’s suspected criminal activity, and absolutely we’ve figured out a way to work with each other.”