US prosecutors indict Mexican Mafia leadership
ORANGE >> Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering case Wednesday aimed at dismantling the leadership of the Mexican Mafia that controlled street gangs in part of Southern California.
The indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court against three members of the group and 28 associates includes allegations of two murders, six attempted killings, extortion and drug trafficking in Orange County.
Prosecutors said the case would not eradicate the organization, which mainly operates from behind bars to call shots on crimes in prison and on the streets. But the prosecution would disrupt the leadership that arose when the longtime kingpin who for decades controlled gang activity in Orange County was convicted of racketeering in 2016.
“The message that this case sends is that if you rise to power in that vacuum, we will come for you,” U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison said. “No gang member is beyond our reach.”
Twenty-one of those charged were already in custody and nine others were arrested in the past two days. One remained a fugitive.
The 106-page indictment charges group members with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, committing violent crimes to aid racketeering, conspiring to traffic drugs, dealing methamphetamine and heroin, and firearms charges.
The Mexican Mafia, which started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion inside California's penal system, is made up of street gang leaders who direct associates to collect “taxes” on drugs proceeds and order hits on enemies or people who betray them or violate their rules.