Dozens of Mexican mafia members arrested in California crackdown [View all]

Source: The Guardian






Prosecutors say 43 people indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking

More than two dozen members and associates of the Mexican mafia were arrested during an early morning crackdown in southern California, federal authorities said on Thursday.

The FBI and other federal and local agencies executed search and arrest warrants at locations mostly in Orange county, south of Los Angeles, according to the US attorney’s office.

A total of 43 people have been indicted on charges including murder, kidnapping, extortion, running an illegal gambling operation and drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

The Mexican mafia was started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion from inside California’s penal system.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/23/mexican-mafia-arrests-california