Raids Shut Down Powerful East L.A. Heroin Ring

An investigation launched last fall into an East Los Angeles drug operation netted 48 arrests of gang members during raids yesterday morning conducted at 38 different locations, the Press-Telegram is reporting. The raid, according to Sheriff Lee Baca "put a heroin ring out of business." During the raids, "a task force including the sheriff's department and two federal agencies also seized 15 kilograms of heroin, $100,000 in small bills, five vehicles and two guns in the raids, while 14 children were taken into protective custody."

The heroin had been smuggled into the US from the Mendoza family of Mexico, and first distributed among local SoCal communities; in East LA the drugs were moved by members of 11 gangs, "including the Brown Brotherhood, White Fence, City Terrace, Marina Maravilla, East L.A. Rife, Barrio Locos and the Hick Boys." They handled "an estimated 15 kilograms of heroin per week, producing revenue of nearly $2 million per month." The raids garnered praise from County Supervisor Gloria Molina.