Feds say gang blended into LA homeless population to operate ‘open-air drug marketplace’

Members of a Mexican Mafia-affiliated 18th Street gang and associates in Los Angeles were arrested Thursday on federal charges alleging their involvement in the murder of a drug dealer who refused to pay extortion “taxes” and a narcotics operation in the city’s MacArthur Park area.

The gang controlled the neighborhood west of downtown Los Angeles as an “open-air drug marketplace,” according to federal prosecutors, who said the suspects attempted to blend in with the park’s large homeless population by operating out of tents.

In addition to deals involving fentanyl and methamphetamine, the suspects operated illegal gambling establishments and collected extortion payments from anyone seeking to deal in the park or on Skid Row, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

The main federal indictment charges seven alleged gang participant with a single count of racketeering conspiracy. Federal authorities are searching for six fugitives in connection with the investigation.

“MacArthur Park served as an open-air marketplace for drug trafficking by 18th Streeters, many of whom operated within tents to conceal the nature of their drug trafficking and to avoid law enforcement detection,” the indictment alleges. “18th Street also controlled a substantial portion of the drug trafficking activities in the Skid Row area of Downtown Los Angeles.”

More than 175 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl were seized in the multi-agency law enforcement operation, prosecutors said.

In Thursday’s takedown, authorities confiscated nearly $80,000 in cash, 10 pounds of fentanyl, five pounds of methamphetamine and six firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which provides photos of some of the seized items.

““For far too long, 18th Street and other criminals have been allowed to turn one of the city’s most beautiful public spaces into a crime-infested pit. That ends today,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We are committed to eliminating violent organized crime and open-air drug markets from Los Angeles.”

Considered LA’s largest street gang, 18th Street grew into a transnational operation with more than 100,000 members in the Unites States, authorities said. The gang also operates in Mexico and Central and South America.

“The distribution of illegal narcotics in our communities is unacceptable, as is the associated violent crime that many times affects innocent residents,” said Robert Molvar, the acting assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This investigation should send a message to 18th Street Gang members and their Mexican Mafia overlords that we’re going to continue to work with our law enforcement partners to target those responsible for the distribution of illegal narcotics which enrich the gang while they prey on and poison members of our community.”