YouTube@ABC7
Forty-three alleged members or associates of the Mexican Mafia are behind bars after a federal operation in Southern California yesterday morning. The federal government is calling it “Operation Gangster’s Paradise.” Authorities say the suspects were part of a sophisticated criminal network and are accused of murder, kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, and running illegal gambling dens, also called slap houses, throughout the region. Luis Cardenas is accused of directing the operation from behind bars at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, using encrypted messages on contraband cell phones. Many of the arrest warrants were served this morning, mainly in Lakewood, Anaheim, and Santa Ana, leading to 25 arrests. The rest of the suspects were already in state custody.
