FBI targets Mexican Mafia in California in stunning pre-dawn raids

Federal agents targeting Orange County on Thursday arrested 30 alleged gang members with ties to the infamous Mexican Mafia in a series of stunning predawn raids meant to put SoCal’s criminal underworld on notice.

Dubbed “Operation Gangster’s Paradise,” the feds aimed to disrupt the operations of the group, also known as La Eme, a violent, prison-based “gang of gangs” said to control almost all Hispanic street gangs in California.

The daring arrests targeted alleged murders, drug dealers and racketeers taken by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation from a series of residences in and around the city of Santa Ana.

“This morning, we executed operation “Gangsters Paradise. We’ve indicted forty members and associates of the Mexican Mafia, who is the most powerful, prolific gang that operates out of state prisons,” said L.A.’s top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli.

“They control and operate all the Hispanic street gangs out in the neighborhoods,” he added.

Federal agents working with local police arrested suspects, confiscated firearms and seized illegal drugs.

Operating from behind bars, the Mexican Mafia enforces strict taxes on illicit drug sales, protection rackets, human trafficking and more, directing local street crews and acting as a criminal government that deals out deadly punishments to those who step out of line.

The Mafia serves as a go-between for the Mexican drug cartels and the so-called narco supergangs that distribute the cartels’ products in California and beyond, including the 18^th Street Gang and MS-13.

The “13” in the gang’s name identifies its tie to the Mexican Mafia, with the letter “M” the 13th letter in the alphabet.

Smaller gangs, including Puente-13, Venice-13 and Florencia-13, also deal in drugs, extortion and violence at the behest of incarcerated shot-callers in the Mexican Mafia, according to law enforcement officials.

The Mafia derives its power from both from its connections to the drug cartels and its control over the prison system, police and federal agents say.

Members of the Mafia use conjugal visits and phone calls as conduits for the issuance of orders to those in the outside world.

Since most gang members can assume they’ll be imprisoned at some point, the Mafia’s ability to kill inmates at will ensures that its dictates will be followed.

Federal agents in have sought in recent months to dislodge the Mexican Mafia’s stranglehold over the Southern California drug trade and associate violence.

Federal authorities targeted Puente-13 members in a series of arrests in December and 18th Street gang members in a series of arrests last month.

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