Onterio BA's

IE4LIFE Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:52 pm

Ontario police aids in Mexican Mafia takedown
Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/21/2010 09:56:50 PM PDT

ONTARIO - A 17-month investigation spearheaded by the city's Police Department has resulted in the arrest of 52 alleged gang members who had ties to the Mexican Mafia.
Ontario police officers said the gang investigation was the largest in the city's history.

Several San Bernardino County law-enforcement agencies, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested 27 people early Wednesday. Twenty- five suspects named in indictments were already in custody.

Authorities are looking for eight more people associated with the gang members.

"The biggest thing is the local impact to the Inland Empire," Ontario Police Chief Eric Hopley said. "It's monumental."

The arrests followed

A suspect in the biggest gang investigation in Ontario history is booked into jail Wednesday at the city police station. Federal and local officers made 27 arrests early Wednesday of suspected gang members believed to be connected to the Mexican Mafia. The wide-ranging operation was part of a 17-month investigation in which 60 people have been indicted. (Will Lester/Staff Photographer)two indictments filed by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for two Mexican Mafia gang members and several Ontario gangsters from Ontario Varrio Sur, Black Angels and Junior Black Angels, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.
The main indictment accused 50 people of federal racketeering, violent crimes and drug trafficking, according to the news release. The second indictment named 10 people for narcotics and firearms violation charges.

"It's a large-scale case, especially for the city of Ontario. It will have a big impact," Assistant U.S. Attorney Reema El-Amamy said. "But for other gang cases, it's big."

The arrests included more than 60 federal indictments as well as the seizure of four firearms, 7 1/2 pounds of methamphetamine and $68,000 in cash, police Detective Jeff Higbee said.

Other agencies that took part in the operation were the U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement, IRS, San Bernardino and Riverside County sheriff's departments, and the Chino, Pomona, Rialto, Upland, Fontana and Riverside police departments.

About 400 law-enforcement officers were at the Ontario Police Station by 3 a.m. Wednesday. The 27 arrests were made between 4 and 8 a.m.

"With the support of DEA, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the surrounding law-enforcement agencies, we couldn't have done this by ourselves," Hopley said.

Officers went to 34 locations in Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties to serve search and arrest warrants, police said. Seventeen of those were in Ontario.

The suspects were bused to a federal holding cell in Riverside, where they made appearances at noon in U.S. District Court.

Federal agencies picked up the investigation from local authorities in January 2009.

"The Black Angels gang has been a longstanding fixture in the city (of Ontario) for about 50 years," El-Amamy said.

Formed in the 1950s, the street gang started as a car club and evolved into a criminal organization by the mid-1960s, Higbee said. Authorities allege the gang members have been involved in murder, attempted murder, illegal distribution, transportation of firearms, narcotics and vandalism as well as smuggling narcotics into prison.

The Black Angels are aligned with and help fund the Mexican Mafia, authorities allege.

An indictment says Black Angels leaders visited high schools to recruit for the gang. At least four Mexican Mafia members are in the Black Angels.

Ontario is the gang's territory, but it is common for its members to live and commit crimes in other cities, officials said.

There are 250 OVS and Black Angels members living in and around Ontario, Higbee said, and 200 more in state or federal prison.

Despite Wednesday's massive sweep, the investigation into the Ontario gangs will continue, Hopley said.

"We're not done until everyone's in custody," he said.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_14933662#ixzz0lrAOqVU1