Twelve members and associates of 18th Street – Los Angeles’s largest street gang – were arrested today on criminal charges, including the murder of a drug trafficker who failed to pay the gang’s extortionate “taxes,” and further alleging that the gang controlled the city’s MacArthur Park as an open-air drug marketplace, using tents to blend in with the homeless population and avoid detection by law enforcement.
Five of the defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
During this investigation, federal and local law enforcement have seized more than 175 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Today, law enforcement seized approximately $80,000 in cash, 10 pounds of fentanyl, five pounds of methamphetamine, and six firearms…