LAPD Arrests 25 In East Los Angeles Gang Sting

The Los Angeles Police Department announced Wednesday that it had taken 25 members of an East Los Angeles street gang into custody for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking and gang activity.

Those taken into custody were reportedly members of the Big Hazard street gang, a Hispanic gang that has successfully run drug trafficking in East Los Angeles neighborhoods while having strong ties to the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

Police, along with the FBI, successfully arrested 25 alleged members of the street gang as part of a federal indictment that cites the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Big Hazard gang is accused of using women to sell controlled substances such as crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin in the neighborhoods it controls.

The indictment also states that the gang, which has over 300 members and has been around for decades, works closely with the Mexican Mafia prison gang that has close ties to the drug cartel in Mexico.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the indictment states that the Big Hazard street gang "is governed by a set of unwritten rules, which are often violently enforced."

Along with the distribution of drugs, the street gang has also been accused of selling weapons and using intimidation against other members of the community, including African Americans.

USA Today reports that the indictment describes the Big Hazard gang as a "multigenerational gang" that developed decades ago in the public housing developments of East Los Angeles.

Kirk Albanese, deputy chief of detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department, said during a press conference Wednesday that he believes his team has successfully destroyed a large part of the gang, but if the gang continues to hold power "we will reconstitute a task force and go after it again."