00:00This morning we are unsealing several indictments targeting Mexican Mafia members and associates here in the Orange County area.
00:07Our operation is called Gangsta Paradise.
00:10You can see here on the board we have targeted 47 individuals in this prosecution.
00:16I'm pleased to report this morning that 43 of the 47 are currently in custody.
00:21These charges include racketeering, conspiracy, kidnapping, extortion, trafficking dangerous drugs such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, and as well as illegal gambling
00:33and murder.
00:34And I want to explain real quick, the Mexican Mafia is a prison gang.
00:38It is the most powerful prison gang in the United States.
00:41The members are incarcerated in state prison.
00:44But you're going to hear how despite being incarcerated in state prison, they are still running the gangs out in
00:50the communities.
00:51And today's operation is focused on dismantling that operation.
00:55The indictment further outlines the gang's control of so-called slap houses or illegal casinos within commercial strip malls and
01:04private homes,
01:05turning neighborhoods and shopping areas into dens of criminality.
01:09To protect this racket, the gang collected a ton of taxes and provided security,
01:15using violence to protect these illegal businesses,
01:18kidnapping and assaulting an employee of a CĂĄrdenas-controlled slap house in Stanton just last year.
01:24We took a decisive action today against the Mexican Mafia.
01:28Others were already behind bars, and some remain at large.
01:33Fugitives who will soon learn that there is no place left to hide.
01:38We are actively seeking two of those fugitives, Luis Buccio and Mario Arias,
01:44and we will provide those pictures and information on them shortly.
01:47This morning's operation was executed with precision and courage.
01:51Seven SWAT teams from Los Angeles and beyond moved swiftly into action to carry out these arrests.
01:58We have seized a sobering amount of drugs and weapons.
02:02Twenty-five firearms, tens of thousands of dollars in cash, four kilos of fentanyl,
02:08a hundred pounds, 120 pounds of methamphetamine, three kilograms of cocaine,
02:15two pounds of heroin, and again, 5,000 fentanyl pills.
02:20caught us standing up with ultraviolet groups, and
02:20we worked with marital cuisine over 10N.
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