Friends of Ours

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  Nearly 100 suspected gang members with alleged ties to the Mexican Mafia in Southern California were indicted last July, and among those charged was Peter "Sana" Ojeda who allegedly has been calling the shots for La Eme behind bars.

***  The feds hit 15 suspected Mexican Mafia members with racketeering charges involving drugs, extortion and attempted murder in Del Rio, TX.

***  Mexican drug cartels have "broadened their reach into the US" through violent street gangs according to the FBI's 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment:

Among the American gangs drawing closer to the Mexican crime armies are several Latino mobs such as the Barrio Azteca, which was formed in Texas prisons, and the Mexican Mafia, or "Eme," which is dominated by Californians of Mexican descent.  * * * With the closer links, Mexican gangsters are getting American street gangs to carry out more jobs for them beyond the traditional drug selling on street corners, the report said. The cartels now "use street- and prison-gang members in Texas and California to protect smuggling routes, collect debts, transport illicit goods, including drugs and weapons, and execute rival traffickers," it said. They pay the gangs in money and drugs.

***  An appeals court upholds the constitutionality of a civil injunction which prohibits members of the North Side Oakland gang from associating with each other in a designated "safety zone" in Oakland, CA.

***  Norteno member convicted in the murder of an 11-year-old girl and attempted murder of her 15-year-old brother in Monterey County, CA.  The siblings were innocent bystanders who were hit when the defendant fired multiple shots at a group whom he believed were rival Surenos.

***  Two dozen suspected members of the Belizean Bloods have been busted on drug trafficking, passport fraud and other charges in Chicago, IL:   they "allegedly used fake U.S. passports while shipping cocaine and other narcotics from Belize to the Chicago area and several other cities.  

***  Reputed G-Shine Bloods leader indicted with 13 others on racketeering and drug charges for their alleged roles in running open-air drug markets in South Camden, NJ.

*** A suspected Bloods member charged with murder in Elizabeth, NJ.

***  In NYC nineteen suspected members of the Harlem gang The Goodfellas are charged with running guns from Virginia:  "the investigation by the NYPD, FBI and Manhattan district attorney's office also yielded a cache of weapons, including a Tec-9, a semiautomatic Chinese SKS military rifle and dozens of other guns."

***  The FBI sets up task force to target street gangs in Southern Maine.

***  MS-13 member faces death penalty after conviction for killing two rival gang members in Cincinnati, OH.

***  MS-13 member gets 24 years in prison for pimping out underage girls in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.   Federal prosecutors in the area have brought five gang-related cases of child prostitution in the past year.

Power Struggle In The Mexican Mafia

Nearly 100 suspected gang members with alleged ties to the Mexican Mafia were busted in Southern California last month, and among those indicted are reputed old school boss Peter "Sana" Ojeda and young buck Armando "Mando" Moreno who allegedly were engaged in a power struggle during 2009 for control over the Orange County turf as reported by Salvatore Hernandez and Denisse Salazer for The Orange County Register:  "In January 2010, several members of Los Angeles and Orange County's Mexican Mafia met to discuss the feud, and it was understood that Orange County belonged to Ojeda, according to the federal indictment."

Mexican Mafia Rules Orange County

Nearly 100 suspected gang members with alleged ties to the Mexican Mafia were busted in Southern California last month, and Salvador Hernandez and Denisse Salazar from The Orange County Register take a closer look at "La Eme" and its reputed Orange County shotcaller Peter "Sana" Ojeda:

For decades the Mexican Mafia has controlled Latino street gangs, according to authorities. Through fear and intimidation "La Eme" – Spanish for "The M," for Mafia – has controlled prisons, jails, drug sales and violence by exerting influence over thousands of gangsters in Orange County. The ruthless control starts behind prison walls and, from the early days, it was clear that Orange County belonged to "Sana" Ojeda.

Ojeda has been in a federal prison since 2005 on a racketeering conviction but the 68-year-old was among those named in the July indictment for allegedly calling the shots behind bars.

Reputed Mexican Mafia Member Arrested

Federal marshals have arrested Eduardo Ochoa, a reputed member of the Mexican Mafia, in Phoenix, AZ on an alleged parole violation, and "local police consider Ochoa an investigative lead in several recent slayings in the Valley" as reported by KPHO.

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Weekly Gang Roundup

***  Twelve reputed members of the Texas Mexican Mafia charged with federal racketeering on the U.S.-Mexico border:

The indictment includes racketeering charges in two killings and counts for conspiracy and extortion that authorities say resulted from the collection of "the dime" — a 10-percent tax levied on drug dealers who peddle on the gang's turf. The indictment alleges the gang enforced the tax with threats, violence and death. The gang, also known as Mexikanemi and "La Eme," Spanish for "M," has been described as one of Texas' largest.

***  Eight alleged members of the 10th Street Bloods in cities across Brazoria County, TX indicted on cocaine trafficking charges.

***  "Minneapolis struggles with rise of Somali gangs":

Gangs like the Somali Hot Boyz, the Somali Mafia and Madhibaan with Attitude have grown more active in recent years, said Jeanine Brudenell, the Minneapolis Police Department's Somali liaison officer. * * * Elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada, police and community officials have reported an increase in Somali gang activity.

***  Three men have been indicted for their alleged roles in trafficking methamphetamine from Washington to central Minnesota:  "Members of the street gang Barrio Los Padrinos 13, or BLP-13, distributed the narcotics."

***  Three reputed Crips members allegedly running methamphetamine distribution ring from Carbon County Prison in PA with help from their moms.

***  Four men, including a reputed Crips gang member, indicted for the murder of a 16-year-old boy in Mt. Vernon, NY.

***  Gang member in Santa Ana, CA gets 25 years for murdering a 13-year-old boy.

***  14-year-old self-admitted member of the Loser Outlaw Crips admits to being trigger man in murder of rival teen from a Norteno gang in West Valley City, UT.

***  In Chicago, IL three reputed members of the Pachuco street gang have been charged in the murder of a 17-year-old boy:

The victim, a 17-year-old boy, was lured to Northlake where he was severely beaten by multiple offenders. He was then brought back to Chicago, where he was placed in a garbage Dumpster and set on fire, police said.