Transnational Gangs

RIVERSIDE -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrests of 12 members of the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, along with the seizure of more than 300 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition, in San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Barbara counties after an 18-month investigation by California Department of Justice.

Seventy special agents from the California Department of Justice, along with law enforcement from 42 allied local and federal agencies, executed 52 search warrants and arrested subjects for crimes ranging from murder, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, rape and narcotic related crimes.

“Our Department of Justice agents lead California's efforts to combat gang violence,” said Attorney General Harris. “Their expertise and ability to coordinate large-scale operations targeting the most organized and lethal gangs cannot be replicated. There is significant evidence that outlaw motorcycle gangs, like the ones whose member we arrested today, regularly perpetrate serious, violent crimes. Today’s action will make Californians safer.”

“This outlaw biker gang has been terrorizing our community for years and what happened today is another huge step in the war on gangs I declared in 2005,” said San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos. “This task force is a clear example of how a cooperative team approach can be effective in making our citizens safe. I want to thank California Attorney General Kamala Harris for her continued support and the hard work of her special agents in the Department of Justice for being such a key part of this team.”

The operation, code-named “Simple Green” was led by the Department of Justice’s Riverside INCA Task Force. In April 2010, the task force launched an investigation of the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, a transnational gang operating in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.

Through the course of the investigation, agents served 14 state search warrants and arrested 25 people. Agents also seized 46 lbs. of cocaine, 8 lbs. of methamphetamine, more than $37,000, 3 stolen vehicles, 26 firearms, a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, four practice grenades and body armor.

A member of the Vagos Motorcycle Gang was recently arrested in the shooting of a rival gang member in a Nevada casino.

The California Department of Justice led the investigation, with support from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the San Bernardino County Sherriff’s Department, the San Bernardino County District Attorney, San Bernardino Police Department, Riverside Police Department, and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

LOS ANGELES --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris, joined by nearly two dozen local, state and federal partners, today signed a Memorandum of Agreement to participate in a first-of-its-kind system that provides law enforcement agencies with a clearinghouse of data on the neighborhoods they are sworn to protect, as well as extensive links to community-based resources.

Launched by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca in September 2010, the Community Based Information System (CBIS) is a robust database that primarily serves law enforcement in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The announcement was made at a meeting of law enforcement from Zone 1, which is composed of Los Angeles and Orange counties. This is the fourth of eight zone meetings the Attorney General will convene this year, to encourage collaboration and the sharing of resources among the state’s law enforcement community.

“Our goal is to collect the data we need to predict, and prevent, the next crime,” Attorney General Harris said. “CBIS is an innovative data-mapping project that paints a comprehensive and real-time picture of crime statistics and community characteristics from social services to demographic profiles.”

“The Attorney General signing the CBIS memorandum of agreement represents a significant milestone in bringing this valuable tool to the law enforcement community throughout the State of California,” Sheriff Baca said. “This system has the capability to empower police agencies to effectively identify and assess problem areas, without regard to jurisdictional boundaries, just like crime.”

Attorney General Harris also presented Attorney General’s Awards to brave officers, units and members of the public who were nominated for the honor by local law enforcement agencies.

CBIS takes the standard model of a law enforcement technology system a step further by adding demographics and other information that provides context to the crime occurring in a community. A training tool and research library assists officers in understanding and dealing with criminal and transnational gangs – the state’s most significant public safety threat.

In addition to data on the socioeconomic dynamics of individual communities, CBIS has a searchable database of thousands of community-based resources – thus allowing law enforcement to connect individuals with support services to prevent crime from occurring and intervene as needed.

In March, Sheriff Baca co-chaired an Organized Crime, Gangs & Gun Crime working group that prepared a briefing paper for the Attorney General. That group – made up of dozens of veteran, bi-partisan district attorneys, members of law enforcement, academics and non-profit leaders from across the state – presented their findings and recommendations at a Smart on Crime policy summit. CBIS was included as a “promising practice” of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; it was recommended that the Attorney General join and contribute to CBIS.

To join CBIS, law enforcement agencies enter into a cost-free agreement with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department by which they enter crime, parole and other data into the system. The California Department of Justice will contribute statewide crime research, crime and gang trend data and other valuable information to the database.

Along with the Department of Justice, law enforcement partners participating in CBIS include: the Los Angeles Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, US Department of Justice – Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School Police, Tustin Police Department, Anaheim Police Department, South Gate Police Department, University of California, Irvine, Los Angeles County Probation Department, Los Angeles County Housing Authority, Buena Park Police Department, California Highway Patrol – Westminster Office, California Gang Investigators Association, and the Kansas Gang Investigators Association.

IMPERIAL VALLEY --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the seizure of 18 kilograms of cocaine worth $360,000 by Department of Justice Border Interdiction Team Special Agents and Imperial County Sheriff’s Deputies from a vehicle crossing into the United States through the Calexico Port of Entry.

“I saw firsthand, just a few months ago, the sophisticated way in which drugs are being trafficked through the border and into California communities” Attorney General Kamala Harris said, “I am so proud of these brave Department of Justice Special Agents and their work to shut down the flow of drugs across the border and into our communities”

On July 10, Department of Justice Special Agents with information regarding possible drug trafficking activities identified a suspicious vehicle crossing into the United States from Mexico at the Calexico Port of Entry. The Agents then followed the vehicle along Highway 111 where they worked with the Imperial Valley Sheriff’s Office who set up a traffic stop near the city of Brawley.

After the suspicious vehicle was pulled over for a code violation, a K-9 unit alerted to the rear seat floorboard of the vehicle where agents later discovered a hidden compartment containing 18 kilograms of cocaine wrapped in red tape.

The driver, Hariberto Armenta Gamez of Mexicali, Mexico, was arrested and is being charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, and transportation of a controlled substance into the state. He is currently being held in Imperial County Jail on $1,000,000 bail. The investigation is still ongoing.

Photos of the vehicle and 18 kilograms of cocaine are attached.

LOS ANGELES -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that a Department of Justice task force arrested two people and seized 28 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of $1.27 million.

“Every day, Department of Justice agents are on the front line of our effort to stop the trafficking of guns, drugs and humans from Mexico through California,” Attorney General Harris said. “We are all safer and better off without these 28 pounds of methamphetamine on our streets.”

Martin Pinedo Cedillo and Alfonso Gutierrez Ibarra of Mexico were arrested on July 15th after attempting to sell 28 pounds methamphetamine to an undercover Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) agent in Riverside. The methamphetamine is believed to have originated from Mexico and was transported to Riverside from Yuma, Arizona.

On Tuesday, Cedillo and Ibarra were charged with transportation and sales of methamphetamine by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. If convicted, each could face a maximum of 14 years in prison.

The Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force (INCA) is one of 51 task forces that may be eliminated due to recent budget cuts. Started in 1991, INCA is based in Riverside County but also serves San Bernardino County. BNE administers the task force, providing offices, three special agent supervisors, and four special agents towards the combined local, state, and federal effort to combat major drug and gang activity in the Inland Empire.

In the 2010 fiscal year, INCA arrested 111 major violators; seized 296.26 kilos of cocaine; 276.37 pounds of methamphetamine; and 9.78 pounds of heroin. The street value of these combined seizures is estimated at $42.5 million. Moreover, during the same time period, INCA seized approximately $4.7 million in drug proceeds.

The seven BNE agent personnel supervise and work alongside (alongside) task force officers from Beaumont Police Department, California Alcohol Beverage Control, California Highway Patrol, Corona Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Murietta Police Department, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Riverside Police Department, and the San Bernardino Police Department.

MERCED --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the seizure of more than 200 pounds of cocaine worth $1.2 million by the Department of Justice-led Merced High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and the Department of Homeland Security in Merced County.

“We cannot allow the I-5 corridor to serve as a conduit for transnational gangs trafficking drugs, guns and human beings into California communities,” Attorney General Harris said, “Department of Justice Special Agents up and down this state are essential in the fight to disrupt and dismantle these transnational drug trafficking operations.”

On July 6, the Department of Justice-led Merced HIDTA Task Force was called in to assist the Department of Homeland Security after a traffic stop in the area of Interstate 5 and Highway 165 in Merced County. Before towing the individual’s vehicle, Department of Justice Special Agents discovered a hidden compartment in the floorboard of the individual’s vehicle.

The vehicle was towed to the California Highway Patrol Office in Los Banos. One hidden compartment contained 31 kilos of cocaine, and upon further inspection, agents discovered a second hidden compartment in the floorboards of the vehicle with 52 additional kilos of cocaine. The total, 83 kilos, is the equivalent of 206.5 pounds and is estimated to be worth $1.2 million.

The Merced HIDTA Task Force is one of 51 California Department of Justice led task forces that coordinate the response to our State’s growing gang and drug trafficking problems. Department of Justice leadership in these task forces has been eliminated by this year’s budget.

Attached are two photos, one showing the hidden compartment in the vehicle and another showing the cocaine that was found.

Also attached is a list of the 51 task forces operated by the Department of Justice.

In June, the Attorney General announced the arrest of 101 leaders and members of two transnational gangs operating violent criminal enterprises in the Central Valley counties of Merced and Madera, including the cities of Madera, Los Banos, Livingston, Merced, Atwater and Dos Palos. http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=2512&

SACRAMENTO --- Law enforcement leaders from across the state of California today criticized the deep cuts to the Department of Justice’s law enforcement budget that specifically targeted anti-gang and anti-drug programs.

The general fund reduction proposals would reduce by $71 million the budget of the Division of Law Enforcement. This could lead to the loss of several hundred special agents and other personnel, the dissolution of 55 statewide task forces – many of which coordinate responses to transnational gang and drug crime – and the loss of investigators on the state’s new Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. As a result, two entire law enforcement bureaus could be shut down, the Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence (BII) and the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE).

California Narcotic Officers’ Association President James C. Hodges:
“Yesterday’s budget agreement contained a bad surprise – the budget decimated the General Fund resources available to Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office for law enforcement purposes. The impact of these cuts will be the shutting down of all BNE task forces, as well as their offices. Each of you may recall that these same cuts were proposed in 2009 during the Schwarzenegger administration. Fortunately, the Legislature wisely rejected those proposed cuts. The reasons for rejecting those cuts in 2009 are as valid today as they were in 2009. In fact, they have become accentuated over the past two years. It is fact that the Mexican drug cartels have dramatically increased their profile in California. Additionally, the significant challenges local law enforcement will face in 2011 with public safety realignment is further reason to restore the BNE task forces. The fact is that the loss of BNE task forces will force local law enforcement – who will tell you frankly that they lack the expertise to deal with these sophisticated, multi-national criminal enterprises – to put scarce resources to fill the void left by the loss of BNE task forces. This is a diversion of local law enforcement resources that will unacceptably undermine their efforts to make public safety realignment work.”

Irvine Police Chief and California Police Chiefs Association President Dave Maggard:
“There were strong imperatives that existed in 2009 and still exist today for the restoration of the BNE (Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement) and still exist today for restoration of the BNE task forces: the Mexican drug cartels are steadily moving their operations into the California; drug cartel violence is already spilling over into the United States; the Sinaloa Cartel is becoming firmly entrenched in California; FBI sources with whom we have spoken believe that a majority of the 200 reported abductions in California are attributable to Mexican drug cartels enforcing their business arrangements; and prosecutors are noting a disturbing diversification of the cartels where they are also engaged in human sex trafficking, as well as their more “traditional” methamphetamine trafficking.Local law enforcement relies on the ability of the BNE task force to combat the increasingly sophisticated crime families involved in drug trafficking and in human trafficking.”

California District Attorneys Association President Gregory D. Totten:
“If this cut is allowed to stand, numerous entities within DOJ will be devastated. Though funded by the Restitution Fund, the Witness Relocation and Protection Program is staffed by DOJ personnel. A reduction in services within this program jeopardizes the ability of law enforcement to protect and relocate vital witnesses. Of additional concern is the potential negative impact on forensic services provided by DOJ. State forensic labs assist counties across the state with blood-alcohol and drug testing that is crucial to all types of prosecutions. This cut portends access to justice issues inasmuch as the availability of these services will become less uniform, specifically in counties that do not have local labs.”

Imperial County District Attorney Gilbert G. Otero:
“As a district attorney in a county bordering Mexico, I would like to take this opportunity to urge you to oppose the Governor’s proposal to cut $71 million from the Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement’s budget. Such a move would have a major negative impact on public safety in my county, in the state and across the entire nation.”

San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis:
“The purpose of this letter is to share my concern with the proposed cuts to the California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement (DLE). As the elected District Attorney of San Diego County, my office investigates and prosecutes crime along California’s border on a daily basis. It is through collaboration with the Division of Law Enforcement that we are able to see results from our efforts to stem the tide of violent crime crossing into California.The work of the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the Bureau of Intelligence and Investigations is a key piece to a statewide strategy to prevent gang crime.I understand the challenges in balancing the state’s budget, but urge you to keep in mind that most local law enforcement agencies are taking severe staffing reductions, especially the smaller agencies, and we will need the assistance of DLE more than ever.”

East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald L. Davis:
“The purpose of this letter is to share my concern with the proposed cuts to the California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement (DLE). On June 5, 2011, two young men fired over a dozen bullets into a vehicle containing an innocent family of four leaving a baby shower in East Palo Alto. The heinous nature of this shooting shocked the entire Bay Area and underscores the real and serious danger gangs pose to our communities. Our response to this tragedy must extend beyond the arrest of the two killers: it must include holding the Nortenos and Surenos accountable as well. In order to do this, I need the assistance of DLE; otherwise, we are battling these gangs with 39 officers.”

In a statement released last night, California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said:
“The proposed $71 million cut will cripple California’s statewide anti-gang and drug trafficking operations. Our Division of Law Enforcement leads 50 task forces across the state that target criminal gangs and drug trafficking organizations. Earlier this month, one of these task forces took down 101 leaders and members of two transnational gangs terrorizing California’s Central Valley. Last month, we announced the seizure of over 100 lbs of methamphetamine and the arrests of more than 30 gang members in the Bay Area. These cuts will eliminate many, if not all, of these task forces and jeopardize many ongoing investigations.”

SAN FRANCISCO --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced today the arrest of 30 gang members in the Tracy area.

The arrests come one day after Attorney General Harris announced the arrests of 101 leaders and members of two transnational gangs operating violent criminal enterprises in the Central Valley cities of Madera, Los Banos, Livingston, Merced, Atwater and Dos Palos.

“Today the Department of Justice delivered another blow to the criminal gangs that have been making inroads into California’s Central Valley,” said Attorney General Harris. “The arrests we have made over the past few days send a message to the individuals who are bringing drugs and guns into our communities. This conduct will receive swift and certain consequences.”

The operation in Tracy was dubbed “Operation Gateway” because of the centralization of three interstates, the 205, 580 and 5, connecting Sacramento, the Bay Area and the Central Valley.

During the operation, Department of Justice agents served 28 state arrest warrants and 24 state search warrants in the Tracy area. The investigation has resulted in 30 arrests, 11 guns and approximately 1/4 ounce of methamphetamine. Everyone arrested was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail.

“Operation Gateway” is a spin-off from Operation Crimson Tide into the criminal activities of the Nuestra Familia gang.

The investigation, a collaborative effort led by California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, and assisted by the Tracy Police Department, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations Special Services Unit, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force. The operation involved over 200 law enforcement officers and 28 locations.

“The community of Tracy is safer today because of the hard work and dedication of the multiple law enforcement agencies involved in this 11-month investigation,” said Tracy Police Chief Janet Thiessen.
“Designed to identify, arrest and prosecute individuals and gangs responsible for violent crime and narcotics trafficking in Tracy, we are confident today’s arrests will have a significant positive impact on crime in our city today and in the future.”

The operation is the latest in a series of actions by Attorney General Harris designed to attack gang violence. In February, agents arrested three associates of a Tijuana drug cartel in a murder-for-hire plot in Southern California. In March, the Attorney General brought law enforcement leaders from across the state to California’s border with Mexico to see firsthand the problem of transnational gangs smuggling guns, drugs and human beings across the border. In April, the Attorney General announced the creation of the first multi-agency gang task force in Tulare County.

LOS BANOS --- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the arrests of 101 leaders and members of two transnational gangs operating violent criminal enterprises in the Central Valley cities of Madera, Los Banos, Livingston, Merced, Atwater and Dos Palos.

“As transnational gangs traffic crime into California, we must counter their ruthlessness with our resolve,” said Attorney General Harris. “The arrest of dozens of transnational gang leaders and members frees California from a significant criminal threat.”

The operation, code-named “Red Zone,” was led by Attorney General Harris’ Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement office in Fresno. It is the latest in a series of actions the Attorney General has taken against transnational gangs.

Attorney General Harris was joined today in the announcement of Operation Red Zone by U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner, Madera County Sheriff John Anderson, and Merced District Attorney Larry Morse II.

Law enforcement from 16 local, state, and federal agencies arrested 75 individuals yesterday, adding to 26 previous arrests, and seized methamphetamine, marijuana plants and crack cocaine during sweeps in Madera and Merced counties. Police also seized more than a dozen firearms, including five assault rifles, and more than $64,000 in currency.

Operation Red Zone was launched in August 2010, when agents with the Department of Justice discovered that members of the Nuestra Familia gang – effectively driven out of Salinas in earlier sweeps – had set up drug trafficking operations in the cities of Madera, Los Banos, Livingston, Merced, Atwater and Dos Palos.

Agents from the Department of Justice logged more than 8,100 hours on the investigation. Out of this focused attention, and the full-time commitment of 21 individuals from the Fresno Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, agents narrowed in on dozens of gang members – tracking their day-to-day activities and gathering evidence of felonies ranging from drug trafficking to attempted murder.

Seventy-two arrest warrants were served yesterday at more than 50 locations in Merced and Madera counties, in an operation conducted by 31 multi-agency teams. Those arrested were booked into the Madera and Merced County jail. Eight of the individuals arrested will be federally indicted, while the remainder will be prosecuted in Merced County.

The arrests were conducted with assistance from Merced Gang Task Force, Madera Gang Task Force, Merced Narcotics Task Force, Merced County Sheriff’s Department, Merced Police Department, Atwater Police Department, Los Banos Police Department, Livingston Police Department, Madera Police Department, Madera County Corrections, and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Operation Red Zone grew out of intelligence obtained in earlier operations. In April 2010, agents from the Attorney General’s Gang Suppression Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies arrested 37 members of the Nortenos and Surenos gangs in Salinas. These arrests targeted the most dangerous gang leaders and, along with an additional 57 arrests, had a significant impact on gang operations in Salinas.

Likewise, the arrests in Madera and Merced counties yesterday focused on gang leadership – and signal the Attorney General’s commitment to disrupting the influence of transnational gangs in communities across the state.

In February, agents arrested three associates of a Tijuana drug cartel in a murder-for-hire plot in Southern California. In March, Attorney General Harris brought law enforcement leaders from across the state to California’s border with Mexico to see firsthand the problem of transnational gangs smuggling guns, drugs and human beings across the border. In April, the Attorney General announced the creation of the first multi-agency gang task force in Tulare County.

Last month, the collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies led to two significant gang takedowns. In Contra Costa, a gang sweep netted 35 arrests and the seizure of more than 135 pounds of methamphetamine (http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=2082&). In another bust in Chico and surrounding areas, local, state and federal agents arrested 23 individuals and seized a significant stash of methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine (http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=2084&).

Four of every 10 homicides that occur in California are gang-related, and more than 80 percent of the California cases in which relocation is required for the protection of witnesses involve gang violence.

Launched in Folsom Prison in 1968, Nuestra Familia is one of seven prison gangs in the state. Through top-down leadership, Nuestra Familia controls illegal activities inside several prisons, as well as most of the Nortenos gangs who operate in central California – from Yuba City to Bakersfield and from Salinas to the Sierra foothills.

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SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced the successful conclusion of a major law enforcement sweep that shut down a father-and-son-led criminal operation connected to violent transnational and prison gangs that dealt in narcotics and firearms in Butte, Glenn, Sacramento, Placer and Yuba counties.

“As long as violent gangs continue to wreak havoc up and down California,” Attorney General Harris said, “my office will continue to partner with local law enforcement to shut them down and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

As part of an operation code-named “Mario Brothers,” a joint task force of more than 200 local, state and federal law enforcement agents led by Attorney General Harris’ Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement concluded an investigation into a drug-dealing ring with connections to the criminal street gang known as the Nortenos, which has ties to the vicious prison gang Nuestra Familia.

Yesterday in Chico and surrounding areas, agents arrested 23 individuals and seized a significant stash of methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine. Police also seized eight firearms, including two assault rifles, and more than $17,000 in currency.

Those arrested include Mario Salazar, 57, of Chico and his son, Jose Salazar, 31, of Hamilton City. Mario Salazar dealt in multiple pounds of methamphetamine by tapping into his son’s gang affiliation.

Operation Mario Brothers began in August 2010, when the North Butte Interagency Narcotic Task Force sought assistance from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Through surveillance and other investigative techniques, agents determined that the Salazars dealt methamphetamine, and bought and sold firearms, in several counties.

The operation is the latest in a series of actions by Attorney General Harris designed to attack transnational gang violence. In February, agents arrested three associates of a Tijuana drug cartel in a murder-for-hire plot in Southern California. In March, the Attorney General brought law enforcement leaders from across the state to California’s border with Mexico to see firsthand the problem of transnational gangs smuggling guns, drugs and human beings across the border. Last month, the Attorney General announced the creation of the first multi-agency gang task force in Tulare County.

Four of every 10 homicides that occur in California are gang-related, and more than 80 percent of the California cases in which relocation is required for the protection of witnesses involve gang violence.

Along with agents from the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, the operation was conducted by the North Butte Interagency Narcotic Task Force; the Butte County Sheriff’s Office; the Chico Police Department; and federal agents with the FBI and ICE.

Search warrants were served at 16 locations in Butte, Placer, Sacramento and Yuba counties. Those arrested were booked into the Butte County jail.

Yesterday’s bust follows closely on the heels of another major gang sweep in Contra Costa County, which netted 35 arrests and the seizure of more than 135 pounds of methamphetamine. (http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=2082&p=3)

SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the successful conclusion of Operation Red Reach, a coordinated law enforcement sweep that shut down a network of local and transnational gangs that dealt in narcotics and firearms, homicide and fraud in western Contra Costa County and nearby areas.

“We are fighting transnational gangs from one end of California to another,” Attorney General Harris said. “With the cooperation of local and federal law enforcement agencies, we’re going to outmuscle, outsmart and undo them.”

San Pablo Police Chief Walt Schuld added: “Exceptional collaboration among the California Department of Justice, local law enforcement, and the FBI has resulted in the successful dismantling of this violent street gang involved in high-level drug and gun trafficking. Our community is much safer due to the tireless efforts of the agents and officers.”

Operation Red Reach, which concluded today, resulted in 35 arrests and the seizure of more than 135 pounds of methamphetamine, 26 firearms – including two assault rifles – more than $86,500 in currency and six vehicles. Police are looking into two weapons that may be tied to a homicide.

Those arrested include Joseph Abbate, aka Sherman Fisher or Butch, an identified member of the criminal street gang known as the Nortenos, which has ties to the vicious prison gang Nuestra Familia.

The operation is the latest in a series of actions by Attorney General Harris designed to attack gang violence.
In February, agents arrested three associates of a Tijuana drug cartel in a murder-for-hire plot in Southern California. Last month, the Attorney General traveled to California’s border with Mexico with law enforcement leaders to underscore the problem of transnational gangs, and earlier this month, the Attorney General announced the creation of the first multi-agency gang task force in Tulare County.

Four of every 10 homicides that occur in California are gang-related, and more than 80 percent of the California cases in which relocation is required for the protection of witnesses involve gang violence.

Operation Red Reach began in February 2009 primarily to investigate the illegal activities of Abbate. As the probe developed, investigators identified his co-conspirators, who include other members of the Nortenos gang, members of local gangs, and members of a Mexican drug trafficking cartel.

The operation, as well as the arrests and searches over the last several weeks, were conducted, in co-operation with federal agents, by an inter-agency task force known as West-NET (for West Contra Costa County Narcotic Enforcement Team). Besides the Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, other members of West-NET include the Contra Costa County Sheriff; police in San Pablo, Richmond, El Cerrito, and Kensington; and the Contra Costa Probation Office.

Search warrants were served in San Pablo, Richmond, El Sobrante, Pinole, Antioch, Pittsburg, San Rafael, Vallejo, Fairfield and Sacramento. Those arrested were booked into the San Pablo jail.