42 accused members of a white supremacist gang in the San Fernando Valley are arrested – Daily News

Forty-two members of what prosecutors described as a San Fernando Valley-based white supremacist gang were arrested in connection with a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, Oct. 2, alleging a years-long criminal operation that included drug trafficking, weapons violations and loan fraud.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, 29 people named in the indictment were arrested Wednesday in raids involving Los Angeles police and other agencies. The public prosecutor's office said the 13 other defendants were already in custody.

Prosecutors said the gang was allied with the Aryan Brotherhood and the Mexican Mafia and that its members used “Nazi tattoos, graffiti and iconography to convey their violent, extremist white supremacy ideology.”

A total of 68 defendants are named in the 76-count indictment. It alleges crimes including conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, bank fraud, identity theft and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon .

The gang's “violent white supremacist ideology and widespread criminal activities pose a serious threat to our community,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Through their alleged involvement in everything from drug trafficking to firearms offenses to identity theft to COVID fraud, and through their alliance with a neo-Nazi prison gang, the (gang members) are a destructive force.”

Law enforcement seized “large quantities of illegal firearms and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin,” prosecutors said.

The indictment alleges criminal activity dating back to at least December 2016 and says the gang used social media – including a members-only Facebook group – to share information and target people who broke the rules had broken the gang.

Gang members generated income through robberies, identity theft and financial fraud, including bogus applications for Paycheck Protection Program funds available to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The spread of organized gang-related crime is destroying the core of our society,” LAPD Interim Chief Dominic Choi said in a statement. “Putting guns out of the hands of gang members and removing drugs from our streets is just another step in curbing this deterioration.”