Federal authorities are calling this the largest gang takedown in U.S. history. Whatever the case, this gang was one nasty gang.
By The Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES –– Federal authorities today unveiled a sweeping racketeering indictment accusing a southern Los Angeles County street gang of a litany of crimes, including killing a sheriff’s deputy and committing hate crimes against African Americans in order to rid them from their turf.
The indictment, along with several related ones, charges more than 100 members of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang with murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and witness intimidation. U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O’Brien, speaking at a news conference this morning, touted it as the “largest gang takedown in United States history.”
[Update at 12:20 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said the gang was named Varrios Hawaiian Gardens. The correct name is Varrio Hawaiian Gardens.]
The gang investigation began in 2005 after sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Ortiz was fatally shot while conducting an interview in Hawaiian Gardens, a gritty, largely Latino city east of the 605 Freeway and north of Long Beach.
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