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Agents nab more than 80 members of San Pedro gang
Police and federal officers arrested 80 alleged members of Rancho San Pedro gang whose members officials say trafficked guns and sold large amounts of drugs.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC
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Members of the Rancho San Pedro gang arrested by LAPD and federal officers.
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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC
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In pre-dawn raids across San Pedro this morning, police arrested more than 80 alleged members and associates of the Rancho San Pedro gang, authorities said.
Capping a two-year investigation, Los Angeles police officers and federal agents held the suspects on federal and state charges, ranging from firearms and narcotics trafficking, to extortion, witness intimidation, and conspiracy to commit murder.
Officials say the Rancho San Pedro gang has 1,000 members and associates.
A few days before the raids, the L.A. City Attorney’s Office filed gang injunctions that make it illegal for the alleged members to associate with one another in most of San Pedro. City prosecutors also filed lawsuits against businesses, including a pizza parlor on Gaffey Street, that allegedly collaborate with the gang to sell drugs.
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L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said the injunction is intended to deal a crippling blow to the gang by preventing them from associating with one another and from possessing guns, among other restrictions.
He said the abatement efforts force landlords to clean up their property.
"That's it – Clean it up, or shut 'em down," he said. "And if you don't, then we're gonna come back, and we're going to get a court order that you're gonna live in that property until it's done. And if that means I'm sentencing you to life within your own property, then I'm sentencing you to life to live in your property. And if you don't live there, we'll take contempt citations and we'll put you in jail."
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