Seventeen Ventura County Gang Members Linked to Mexican Mafia Charged for Roles in Mexican-Based Drug Trafficking Organization

LOS ANGELES—In the third phase of Operation SuperNova, a multi-agency task force investigation that targeted Mexican Mafia-affiliated street gangs in Ventura County, 17 people have been charged following an investigation by a task force composed of the FBI, the Ventura Police Department, and the Oxnard Police Department. Following arrests this morning, 14 of 17 defendants named in a federal criminal complaint unsealed this morning are now in custody.
Several teams of police officers and federal agents executed arrest and search warrants early this morning and took six defendants into custody without incident. Eight of the 17 defendants charged were already in custody based on unrelated charges and soon will be brought into federal custody. The remaining three defendants charged in the complaint are fugitives, some believed to be residing in Mexico, where they allegedly direct the narcotics-trafficking activity alleged in the complaint.
The criminal complaint details a year-long undercover investigation and outlines a series of narcotics transactions that led to the seizure of more than two pounds of methamphetamine and quantities of heroin that were being sold on the streets of Ventura County. The complaint alleges that the drugs were supplied by a Mexican drug trafficking organization controlled by Mexican Mafia member Martin Madrigal-Cazares. Local street gangs allegedly communicated with the head of the organization in Mexico, while controlling narcotics sales and collecting “taxes” on behalf of the Mexican Mafia in Ventura County.
This case targeted the "shotcallers" of Ventura County and Oxnard street gangs—including Lemonwood, Surtown, and Ventura Avenue Gangsters—whose members control the drug trade in their respective territories. The defendants charged in the complaint (with the exception of Cazares) are residents of Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo and Moorpark. Those named are:

• David Acosta, 33, in custody
• Daniel Armendariz, 38, arrested today
• Pedro Arrieta, 42, arrested today
• Robert De La Cerda, 35, in custody
• Lina Fuentes, 35, fugitive
• Daniel Gonzales, 40, in custody
• Philip Guerra, 28, arrested today
• Ruben Hernandez, 20, in custody
• Alejandro Herrera, 38, in custody
• David Leal, David, 44, arrested today
• Martin Madrigal-Cazares, 38, a fugitive believed to be residing in Mexico
• Dillon Mansell, 21, in custody
• Armando Molina, 30, arrested today
• Edwin Mora, 29, in custody
• Librado Navarrete, 27, a fugitive
• Frank Ruiz, 32, arrested today
• Javier Tamayo, 35, in custody

As a result of the first phase of Operation Supernova in 2011 (http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2011/018.html), 11 defendants were convicted and received sentences of up to 25 years in prison. In the second phase of Operation Supernova in 2012 (http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2011/oxnard-gang-members-arrested-on-federal-drug-and-gu n-trafficking-charges-in-second-part-of-operation-supernova), six defendants were charged in connection with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegally sell firearms. The total seizure for the three-phase operation totals 18 pounds of methaphetamine, five kilograms of cocaine, six pounds of heroin, and 46 firearms.
The defendants named in the complaint are charged conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, and, if they are convicted, each would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.
The defendants arrested today will make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. The federal defendants will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the Ventura Police Department; the Oxnard Police Department; and the FBI.
The Ventura Gang Task Force is one of many FBI Safe Streets Task Forces throughout the United States, funded for the purpose of assisting local police in identifying and addressing violent crime in America.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Media Contacts:

• United States Attorney’s Office: 213-894-6947
• FBI: 310-996-3343
• Oxnard Police Department: Miguel Lopez: 805-385-7631

Operation Smokin’ Aces Targets Mexican Mafia Operations in Orange County

SANTA ANA, CA—Hundreds of law enforcement officials this morning fanned out across Southern California to conclude Operation Smokin’ Aces, an investigation conducted by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force that targeted the Orange County wing of the Mexican Mafia, which allegedly exercises control over Latino street gangs and is a powerful force in the local jail system.
A total of 129 defendants have been named in indictments issued by county and federal grand juries. Each of the defendants is linked to an Orange County street gang that claims allegiance to the Mexican Mafia, which is also called the Eme. Some of the federal defendants also are associates of the prison gang who allegedly worked directly with one of the two Mexican Mafia members who oversee the Orange County wing of the criminal enterprise.
During the course of the investigation, task force members made undercover purchases of 67 weapons (38 handguns and 29 rifles). They also seized 22 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.5 pounds of heroin, and three pounds of cocaine.
Over the past three months, a federal grand jury in Orange County has returned 26 indictments that charge a total of 86 defendants. The indictments allege a wide range of criminal conduct, including murder and assault, extortion and “tax” collection, and the street-level distribution of narcotics.
As part of Smokin’ Aces, the Orange County District Attorney has also obtained indictments that charge a total of 43 defendants.
At the center of Smokin’ Aces is a federal racketeering indictment that focuses on the operations of the Mexican Mafia in Orange County, a criminal organization that for many years has been headed by Peter Ojeda, who allegedly ordered murders and assaults on behalf of the Mexican Mafia. (Ojeda is not formally charged in the indictment unsealed today, but he is currently pending trial in another racketeering case that was filed in 2011 in relation to Operation Black Flag.)
The racketeering indictment alleges a conspiracy to violate RICO, the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The RICO indictment unsealed today charges 26 defendants associated with the Orange County branch of the Mexican Mafia, including those who implemented orders given by Eme leaders, gang members who collected and delivered “tax payments,” and women associated with the organization who serve the “crucial” function of moving messages from incarcerated Mexican Mafia operatives to their minions on the streets.
The Mexican Mafia is a powerful and violent prison gang that controls drug distribution and other illegal activities within the California penal system and on the streets of Southern California by organizing Latino street gang members for the purpose of establishing a larger network for the Mexican Mafia’s illegal activities. If a street gang does not comply with the demands of the Mexican Mafia, the prison gang will order the assault or murder the offending gang’s members, whether they are in custody or on the streets.
The majority of the federal indictments target gang members who allegedly trafficked in significant quantities of narcotics and firearms. Two of the indictments outline large drug trafficking conspiracies, one of which focuses on the Santa Ana-based Delhi gang. The gang members and their associates were paying “taxes” or “rent” to the Mexican Mafia, and this revenue stream fortified the control the Mexican Mafia has over members of gangs, whether they are on the street or in custody.
The first large drug distribution indictment charges 15 people and outlines the activities of an organization allegedly run by George “Monk” Martinez and John Terrones, who are alleged leaders of the Santa Ana-based Delhi gang and who are also named in the RICO indictment. The narcotics indictment alleges a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.
The second narcotics trafficking indictment charges a dozen individuals with participating in a methamphetamine distribution organization headed by Mario Franco, a member of a Santa Ana-based gang who also is named in the RICO indictment.
Operation Smoking Aces is the latest action by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force to target the Mexican Mafia and its control over Latino street gangs in Orange County. In July 2011, authorities announced Operation Black Flag, which led to charges against 99 defendants, including Peter Ojeda (see: http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2011/ninety-nine-members-and-associates-of-mexican-mafia-affiliated-gangs-charged-in-operation-black-flag).
Smokin’ Aces was an investigation conducted by the Santa Ana Gang Task Force, which consists of agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation-Special Service Unit. Special agents with IRS-Criminal Investigation also participated in Operation Smoking Aces.
Multiple agencies assisted during today’s operation, including personnel with the United States Marshals Service; the Anaheim Police Department; the Newport Beach Police Department; the Fountain Valley Police Department; the Huntington Beach Police Department; the Brea Police Department; the Irvine Police Department; the Buena Park Police Department; and the Garden Grove Police Department.