68 white supremacists hit in 76 drug trafficking and COVID-19 fraud cases

According to a federal indictment, 68 suspected white supremacists in California have been charged with drug trafficking, weapons violations and COVID-19 loan fraud.

Members of the San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, a California-based white supremacist street gang, were hit by a 76-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday, dealing a “decisive blow” to their years-long criminal enterprise, Attorney General Merrick B. said . Garland.

Garland claimed the club was responsible for “trafficking deadly fentanyl and other drugs, committing robberies and committing financial fraud to fund both their criminal enterprise and that of the Aryan Brotherhood.”

Gang members have reportedly made big bucks through identity theft and financial fraud, including through bogus applications for Paycheck Protection Program funds — designed to support small businesses hit by the pandemic — to incarcerated people.

According to the indictment, their criminal activities date back to at least December 2016.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized illegal firearms and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin, court details revealed.

The Peckerwoods at times take orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California's largest incarcerated white supremacist gang, and also have an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, which controls most of the Latino street gangs in the Golden State, according to the indictment.

They used social media to share information and target people who violated the group's rules.

If convicted, the defendants face life imprisonment.