A dozen alleged members and associates of a notorious Los Angeles street gang were apprehended in a sweeping federal takedown Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced.
According to authorities, the suspects are affiliated with 18th Street, the city’s largest street gang, which evaded law enforcement by hiding in tents among the homeless. Investigators believe that the organization smuggled drugs throughout Los Angeles, including MacArthur Park, Skid Row, Hollywood, and the San Fernando Valley.
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“A total of seven federal indictments charge members of this gang,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said. “18th Street has harmed MacArthur Park residents and turned the park into a crime-infested area full of drug addicts and the criminals who enable them.”
Authorities claim that the gang has grown into a significant criminal organization associated with the Sinaloa Cartel and the Mexican Mafia. Members are charged with murder, extortion, racketeering (the act of running an illegal business for profit), conspiracy, and drug trafficking. In one case, authorities allege that a member murdered a narcotics trafficker in revenge for failing to pay the gang’s extortionate “taxes.”
As part of the takedown known as “Operation Dead Horse,” authorities arrested the gang’s alleged street boss and second-in-command, Keiko Marie Gonzalez, 59, known as “Moms.”
Prosecutors claim she connected directly with a jailed Mexican Mafia member who had ultimate control over the 18th Street gang from a California state prison, serving as a crucial conduit between prison leadership and street-level operations.
Prosecutors claim she had the authority to order the death of her gang members, competitors, and other drug traffickers. In July 2022, she asked for the execution of a woman who refused to pay extortion “taxes” for her drug trafficking activities in their area.
Two other members, George Carillo and Carlos Beltran, have been charged with murder in aid of racketeering in connection with this homicide.
Along with drug trafficking and murder, the gang operated illicit gambling venues known as “casitas” and practiced systematic extortion.
Prosecutors said on Thursday that officers seized approximately $80,000 in cash, six weapons, and several pounds of drugs. Throughout the investigation, law enforcement seized 175 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Six other suspects remain at large, according to officials. Two are believed to have fled internationally, one to Mexico and the other to Guatemala.
Five of the accused suspects were expected to be arraigned on Thursday in downtown Los Angeles’s US District Court.
If convicted, street boss Gonzalez faces a potential penalty of life in prison, while the suspected shooters, Carillo and Beltran, receive obligatory life terms.
