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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

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Feds and local law enforcement target 38th street gang

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Feds and local law enforcement target 38th street gang
Feds and local law enforcement target 38th street gang

Local and federal law enforcement agencies arrested almost 60 people in a gang crackdown. They’re suspected of being associates of the 38th Street gang.

Police say that as gangs go, the 38th Street gang is as violent as any.

A federal indictment alleges that in one incident, gang members dressed up as FBI agents, shot their way into a house and kidnapped a man.

During a high-speed chase that followed, they allegedly executed the man in the car. In another incident, police say they caught a gang member on a wiretap claiming to have directed a 14-year-old girl to shoot a rival as part of her initiation.

Police say the 38th Street gang imports methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico, and that its members and associates sell the drugs on the street just south of downtown Los Angeles. They say the gang also extorts businesses that operate in and around the Alameda Swap Meet to generate revenue.

Police say the Mexican Mafia prison gang controls the 38th Street gang.

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