LOS ANGELES, California – More than 500 law enforcement personnel executed a major operation this morning, taking into custody 32 defendants who are charged in two federal racketeering indictments, one of which outlines how members of the Mexican Mafia were able to control drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of prisoners inside the Los Angeles County jail system (LACJ).
The defendants arrested this morning are among 83 defendants who were charged by a federal grand jury in the two indictments unsealed today. A total of 35 defendants are already in custody in state prison or county jail facilities and are expected to be brought to federal court in the near future. Authorities continue to search for 16 fugitive who are expected to be arrested in the near future.
The indictments – which allege a host of criminal violations, including conspiracies to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) – detail the power structure of the Mexican Mafia and its violent exercise of authority over Latino street gangs in Southern California and inside the sprawling LACJ.
According to the indictment that focuses on the LACJ, a criminal enterprise led by members of the Mexican Mafia allegedly engaged in five broad areas of criminal activities that collectively served to enrich members of the enterprise and to maintain control and authority over LACJ, which includes the Men’s Central Jail and the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. The criminal offenses carried out by this enterprise fall generally into five categories:
1. the Mexican Mafia-sanctioned smuggling of drugs into LACJ, narcotics that were sold to inmates to generate profits for the enterprise;
2. the “taxing” of other drugs smuggled into LACJ in what the indictment labels “widespread extortion”;
3. another LACJ extortion scheme in which all Latino inmates were required to contribute a percentage of their commissary spending on food and hygiene items into a “kitty” that generated additional income for the Mexican Mafia member when the kitty was sold to an inmate;
4. the disciplining and extortion – through assaults and fines – of Mexican Mafia associates who ran afoul of the rules imposed by the organization;
5. money laundering of the criminal proceeds from these activities.
Defendant: Jose Landa-Rodriguez, Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering, Los Angeles, California, 2023. Current Status: Expected to be brought to federal court in the near future.
Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Organized Crime|Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Organized Crime|Drug TraffickingOrganized Crime|Drug TraffickingOrganized Crime|Drug TraffickingOrganized Crime|Drug Trafficking