Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Major Gang Arrests in Tracy

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.