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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:05:04 GMT -8
Although some of these articles will be about Nortenos in California. This thread is meant to inform and give insight to those wanting to learn more about Norteno culture ranging from the streets to the pen, whether it be in Yakima or Oakland California. This thread is meant to give you a better idea on how this gang operates from California to Idaho and everywhere in between.
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:08:04 GMT -8
Communication mode, tiny in form, a big problem, law enforcement says
Gang news travels through the Stanislaus County Jail in writing so small it's barely readable to the naked eye.
But that code can be read by Norteño gang members behind bars, who take the tiny notes so seriously that they're known to lead daily classes on how write them.
"There is no debating the fact that Norteños on the streets have a direct communication line to the county jail and to (prison)," said gang prosecutor Tom Brennan. "This communication line allows the gang to maintain unity and ... foster allegiance to their cause."
Wilas were at the center of a court battle last week after prosecutors said they found a stash of notes justifying the 2007 killing of an alleged gang traitor — Roger Villanueva, 26, an aspiring rap artist from Turlock.
Better yet, prosecutors say, the wilas were written in the first person and included the names, personal information and details of past prison stays of two men accused of Villanueva's murder: Alvaro "Tito" Saldana, 25, and Raymond "Raymo" Gutierrez Jr., 30.
Deputy Paul Teso said those wilas were questionnaires gang leaders require from new Norteño inmates who are investigated, then cleared for active duty in the gang while behind bars.
One of the questions asks if the inmate has ever perpetrated "red on red," or Norteño against Norteño crime. Teso believes Saldana and Gutierrez wrote about Villanueva's murder to prove the victim was a gang dropout worthy of being targeted.
If found to have killed a fellow gang member without an official order or justification, Saldana and Gutierrez could have been assaulted or killed by other Norteños in jail, Teso said.
Defense attorneys argued that the wilas could not be definitively linked to Saldana and Gutierrez. A judge is to decide next month if the wilas will be allowed in as evidence.
Wilas are smuggled in an inmate's body cavity or in the lining of jail- issued jumpsuits and other clothing to gang members on the street or the so-called shot callers held in the Public Safety Center.
Many of the roughly 140 Norteño gang members in the downtown jail have perfected the art of microwriting, as evidenced by a binder holding hundreds of wilas intercepted by deputies. Some inmates can fit up to nine lines of text in a space no more than a quarter-inch deep.
In court Thursday, Teso testified that the skill of miniature writing is important enough to merit secret classes held by Norteños for one hour each afternoon. A gang leader serves as a teacher and edits essays written in wila form by Norteños to practice their craft.
Defense attorney Frank Carson was incredulous.
"Do they get a star like first grade for a 7-year-old?" Carson said, mocking Teso. "This is just silly."
But the notes make their way to state prisons, where Norteño leaders get updates on their manpower in the local jails.
"It's a big problem everywhere," Teso said. "It's all connected."
Authorities say they believe Saldana and Gutierrez lured Villa-nueva away from an event held in memory of fellow rapper Moses Rodriguez Jr., who was shot and killed in an October 2006 double homicide in Turlock.
Villanueva, who performed under the name Smoke da Villain, was shot multiple times in the back yard of a Turlock home on May 25, 2008. Investigators found 13 bullet casings at the scene.
Testimony in the Saldana and Gutierrez case is to continue April 6.
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:10:57 GMT -8
By JULIA REYNOLDS Herald Salinas Bureau www.montereyherald.com/ci_149...ce=most_viewed Eight-month investigation yields 37 high-level arrestsAn ambitious multi-agency operation aimed at dismantling the Central Coast leadership structure of the Nuestra Familia gang resulted in more than three dozen arrests during sweeps early Thursday. At least 37 alleged gang members and associates were in custody after hours of coordinated raids across Monterey County, ending months of investigation that culminated in what some call the largest law enforcement operation ever to target the Nuestra Familia, one of the West's most violent crime organizations. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown and a host of officials announced the results of the action Thursday. More than 200 law enforcement agents and officers took part in the sweeps, serving arrest and search warrants in Salinas and neighboring areas. At least one of those sought had Santa Cruz County ties, and several others were targeted in the San Jose area, authorities said. The operation, which will continue to play out in state and federal courts, aims to disband the Salinas-area regiment of a gang that for three decades has dominated criminal activity in farm towns across Northern California. For months, gang investigators from the California Department of Justice, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Salinas Police Department, the Monterey County Gang Task Force and the FBI worked to prepare arrest warrants for more than 40 high-ranking members of the gang in Salinas and nearby counties. The Nuestra Familia gang, which operates in and out of prisons, influences much of the criminal activity of thousands of Norteño gang members in Monterey and other California counties by ordering "hits" and demanding payments from drug sales, robberies and other gang crimes. Norteño gang members, who police say number about 6,000 in Monterey County, act as street-level soldiers for prison-based Nuestra Familia, which operates as the "parent company" of the Norteños. State gang experts credit the Nuestra Familia with about 1,000 killings since it began in the late 1960s, with Norteño gang members claiming hundreds more lives. State and federal law enforcement officials chose Salinas for the raids because for years the city has been known as a hub of Nuestra Familia's activity. Largest bustOperation Knockout began last year with gang intelligence from the Salinas Police Department and other local agencies, and soon was spearheaded by the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. Of 44 arrest warrants obtained, 37 warrants ended with arrests Thursday. Outstanding warrants remain on seven unnamed people. Authorities seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, as well as other drugs. A dozen firearms were taken during the day's searches. "They saw today what happens," Schwarzenegger said. "This is not done yet." In scale and ambition, the operation dwarfs the two largest cases against the Nuestra Familia: Operation Black Widow ended in 2005, and Operation Valley Star led to a massive trial just under way in a Sacramento federal court. Both investigations were led by the FBI and crippled the gang's operations after the arrests of dozens of Nuestra Familia members and associates from Monterey County. But neither investigation matched the scope of Operation Knockout — in numbers of those arrested and in its aim to effectively shut down the Nuestra Familia in Salinas. State gang "czar" Paul Seave said he was pleased that so many law enforcement agencies came together. "It's the way we should do business. It gives me hope that we can address something as complex as gang violence," he said. Crippling blow for gangLast fall, when Russoniello came to a Salinas "gang summit" for law enforcement, at least some of the time was spent on the early planning of Operation Knockout. For eight months, officers conducted intense surveillance and investigation of Salinas-area Nuestra Familia associates, who they believed were loyal to the two remaining factions of the gang after Black Widow split the gang's leadership. Of special interest were members who held positions of power within the gang, including Martin "Cyclone" Montoya, a man who investigators say was in charge of Nuestra Familia's powerful Salinas regiment. Montoya is among a dozen of those arrested Thursday who face charges in federal court, where mandatory sentences for drug and gun crimes often mean longer prison terms. Others arrested include Castroville residents Dakota Vernon Casperson and Sheena Nicole Casperson. Most of the defendants are headed to Monterey County court, where they will face drug, gang, weapons and possible conspiracy charges. But a few higher-level suspects, including Montoya, are headed to federal court, where arraignments were under way Thursday. Montoya is one of 10 who were charged in a federal drug conspiracy case, facing a maximum of life in prison. Two others, Raymundo "Ray-Ray" Carrasco Lopez and Adrian Angel Lopez, were charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in a separate federal case. The investigation is the first time law enforcement has attempted to bring in such large numbers of Nuestra Familia associates from one geographic area, and the hope is this will virtually shut down the gang's business in Salinas long enough for other anti-violence strategies to take hold. Effect on CeasefireLocal authorities hope the arrests will cripple the gang's grip on younger gang members in the area and make existing gang-violence intervention efforts, such as Ceasefire, more effective. "The message that we are continuing to put out there is that if you think you are going to try and fill the vacuum (left by the arrests), if you are going to choose to move with the gangs and commit gang crimes, then you're going to pay a price. And that price is going to be your freedom," said District Attorney Dean Flippo. "But to those who choose to stop the violence, there are available resources to help them. They do not have to get involved in this." Seave said the operation "fits perfectly into the Ceasefire strategy. ... Ceasefire depends on following through on commitments that if the violence doesn't stop, force will be applied vigorously." When Operation Knockout was launched last fall, officials acknowledged there were no resources in place to help communities such as Salinas deal with the almost certain spates of violence that tend to follow mass arrests. But now, police said they are prepared to respond with tactics developed as part of Operation Ceasefire. At their news conference Thursday, local and state leaders, including Schwarzenegger, pointed to job training and other services offered by Ceasefire as the "other choice" gang members can make if they want to avoid crackdowns like Thursday's. Attorney General Brown disagreed, saying he learned when he was mayor of Oakland that only "constant suppression" works with hard-core gang members. To that end, he announced the debut Thursday of a county narcotics and gang task force overseen by the state's Department of Justice. Deputy Chief Kelly McMillin said more of Ceasefire's signature call-in meetings will be held in coming weeks in an effort to keep potential spikes in violence at bay. Family Tree.extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site570/2010/0423/20100423_032319_family_tree.pdf
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:15:54 GMT -8
www.appeal-democrat.com/news/...sive-went.htmlAbout 200 Yuba-Sutter law enforcement officers arrested dozens of members of Nuestra Familia, described as a prison gang that controls most Norteños criminal street gang activity in Northern California, authorities said. Dubbed Operation Crimson Tide, Thursday's effort included 300 officers in Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Yolo, Sacramento and Stanislaus counties. Crimson is the color worn by Norteños members. Starting at 5 a.m., officers made 39 arrests and found about 20 pounds of methamphetamine and 26 guns, including two assault rifles and five sawed-off shotguns, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team. Nuestra Familia distributes methamphetamine from Mexico throughout California, said Hudson. Nuestra Familia "has been knocking on the devil's door, and sooner or later it's going to get answered" — by law enforcement, Hudson said. "Operation Crimson Tide stands as a beacon and sets the standard for future comprehensive investigations involving California's most notorious prison gangs," he said. The California Department of Justice and 21 local law enforc ment agencies participated. Starting in January, the Crimson Tide investigation led to the Yuba City Police Department arresting five Norteños members charged with fatally shooting four members of the rival Sureños gang in 2004 and 2005, he said. Those arrested in connection with the murders include Robert Juan Salazar, 24, Nuestra Familia's "regimental commander" in the six-county area, Hudson said. The arrests of Salazar and other gang leaders "will definitely create a vacuum in our area" for Nuestra Familia, he said. Hudson described Nuestra Familia as "arguably the most notorious, organized and brutal gang operating within the California prison system." Bryan Kingston, senior special agent with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Nuestra Familia leaders use smuggled telephones, coded letters and other methods to control the gang from inside prison. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, which has a dedicated gang unit, will prosecute all those arrested Thursday, Hudson said. In March 2004, Salazar allegedly fired a 12-gauge shotgun point blank at Sureños member Francisco Villanueva, who was sitting in the parking lot of a Gray Avenue apartment building with his 6-year-old nephew. In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown said the Villanueva murder "began Salazar's climb up the organizational ladder" of the Norteños. Salazar then ordered the murders of other rival gang members in 2004 and 2005, Brown said. Brown said a total of 59 gang members were arrested since Operation Crimson Tide began. He pegged Thursday's arrest total at 33 with 24 firearms seized, numbers slightly different than Hudson's. Cesar Noe Villa, 26, Nuestro Familia's acting regimental commander since Salazar's arrest, was among those arrested Thursday, said Hudson. Hudson described Nuestra Familia as highly organized — a trait that will make it easier to prosecute individual members for conspiracy. Regiment commanders like Salazar "manage the systems for teaching recruits, collecting taxes from illicit gang activity and direct everything from who gets killed to how guns are distributed among street soldiers (soldados). As young Hispanics are cycled in and out of juvenile hall and prison, they are literally nurtured into a life of commitment to Nuestra Familia, a commitment enforced by blood," Hudson said. Members pay $250 a month in dues, he said. Another goal of Operation Crimson Tide is to segregate Nuestra Familia members in prison instead of putting them in the general population where they are "revered" by other inmates and can advance the gang's cause, he said. Between 2004 and 2006, the Norteños versus Sureños war led to an average 170 shots fired calls per year to Yuba-Sutter law enforcement agencies. Anti-gang efforts since then have cut the number in half, Hudson said. Brown said those arrested Thursday "chose to join dangerous gangs that deal in meth and murder. By removing them from society, we are disrupting their criminal activities and making the people of Northen California safer."
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:21:18 GMT -8
The brim of the 18-year-old’s cap, the trim of his sweat jacket and the stripes on his tennis shoes were the first clues. They were red.
So were a pair of sneakers found by Vacaville Detective Keith Hopper as he searched a Toyota 4Runner that has seen far better days. Hooper also found several cans of spray paint inside the vehicle, including a few that had been stashed in a backpack.
For police on the scene, the young man’s affiliation was confirmed when Sgt. Jim Mayoral raised his pant leg to reveal a large “NOR” tattoo on his right shin.
“NOR” is short for Norteños, the predominant gang in Vacaville with about 70 members. Officers in the Crime Suppression Team (CST) know them all too well.
Norteños have an affinity for red, the letter N (northern or Norte) and the number 14, which also appears in taggings as XIV and X4.
Mayoral and two of the six officers in his team responded on April 15 to a report of five young men tagging a parking lot along Elmira Road. Three were arrested, including the 18-year-old who also has “VV” tattooed behind his left ear and “FF” behind his right.
There are two Norteño sets in Vacaville, the Brown Street Locos and Rocky Hill Posse. There are also two in Fairfield, Varrio Centro Fairlas and Varrio War Zone. The sets rarely collaborate, officers in both cities said, but they also do not work against one another.
“Traditionally, they keep to their sets and get along,” said Fairfield Sgt. Matt
Bloesch, who supervises five detectives in the city’s Gang Unit.
The sets in Vacaville hail from a neighborhood known for Norteño activity, Mayoral said. That neighborhood became infamous March 5 when 17-year-old Beto Padilla was shot and killed outside an apartment near the intersection of Rocky Hill Road and Meadows Drive.
Two other males were also shot.
Mayoral made a point of stressing that the entire neighborhood should not take a bad rap for the “senseless” acts of a few. He added that very few members of the Brown Street Locos set even live in that neighborhood anymore, but they still claim it as their turf.
Arrested as suspects on March 5 were three young men who are “known associates or members of the Sureño gang” in Fairfield, according to Vacaville Sgt. Jeff King, who is leading the investigation of what police immediately labeled as a “gang-related incident.”
The Sureños are known for wearing blue, the letter M (Mexican Mafia) and the number 13. The largest Sureño set in Fairfield is Calle San Marco.
No one will say whether the three victims were or are affiliated with the Norteños, but no one is saying it was a random act of violence. Padilla’s family has steadfastly insisted he was not a gang member.
The location of the shooting did not surprise Mayoral, who said gang activity in that area is nothing new to those responsible for cracking down on it.
“It’s been here since I’ve been here,” he said. “There’s a Norteño community, and there’s always been a gang presence.”
A presence should not be confused with a problem, Mayoral added. He said his team is intent on “being in charge of the streets.”
“We let them know we’re watching,” CST Detective Adam Senf said. “We get to know who’s who. If we see somebody involved in gang activity, we should be able to recognize them.”
Gang members are also aware of the CST detectives. The names of three officers were painted recently on a wall just off of Peabody Road along with “187″ and “(expletive) THE PIGS!” The set responsible for the tagging did not conceal its identity, adding “BSL” to its gangster-piece.
That would be the Brown Street Locos.
The challenge for Vacaville and Fairfield police is trying to figure out who is actually a gang member and who is just dressing or acting the part. “The thug lifestyle,” according to Mayoral, has led to gangster apparel becoming mainstream as hip-hop fashion.
As Bloesch said, “There’s a lot of 13-year-old kids hanging out on street corners and talking tough. When you portray yourself as a hardcore gangster, the rival gang sees what you’re trying to portray and you can become a target. They don’t care who you are.”
“When you’re dead, the game’s over,” he added. “That’s the sad reality of this lifestyle.”
That the 18-year-old arrested on April 15 was wearing red only tipped officers to his affiliation. The “NOR” tattoo let the cat out of the bag.
“We have to look at the totality,” Mayoral said. “Gang members used to admit they’re in a gang. They were proud of it. They don’t do that anymore. They don’t want to know us.”
Calle San Marco gangsters in Fairfield were once known for wearing Cincinnati Reds caps, the “C” logo for Calle and the red for Norteños, Bloesch said. They no longer wear them, however, because Fairfield police are enforcing an injunction to curb Norteño activity.
There are about 250 Norteños in Fairfield, Bloesch said, and 47 have been served with the injunction that prohibits them from associating with the gang, engaging in gang activity, drinking alcohol and using drugs. It also mandates a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The likelihood of gang enhancements being added to criminal charges and increasing the penalties has also forced gangsters to go undercover. Gang enhancements were added to the murder and attempted murder charges for the suspects in the March 5 shooting.
The 18-year-old arrested on April 15 happened to be wearing a black Reds cap with a red bill. That alone would not have earned him a trip to Solano County Jail.
“It’s not against the law to be a gang member,” Mayoral said. “It’s against the law to commit a gang crime.”
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:24:46 GMT -8
Suspected leaders of a notorious and violent gang were swept up in a dragnet this week that law enforcement officials claim will slow the flood of methamphetamine into this country for years to come.
Local, state and federal law enforcement officers this week brought down more than two dozen alleged crime bosses, including the suspected No. 1 and No. 2 street leaders of Nuestra Familia, the executive group that controls the Norteño prison gang.
The top commander of the Nuestra Familia, 40-year-old Larry Sixto Amaro, was arrested Wednesday in Hanford by an FBI task force, officials said. Amaro reported directly to Nuestra Familia generals in Pelican Bay State Prison and those at a "super max" prison facility in Colorado, according to investigators. Mario Diaz, Amaro's No. 2, was arrested a month earlier in Los Banos, although a press release stated he was arrested in Stockton.
Five arrests were made in San Joaquin County:
• Jesse Corral, 35, was arrested in the 7400 block of Karlsberg Circle in Stockton.
• Jesus Garcia, 34, was arrested in Stockton; a specific address was not available.
• Ernesto Salcedo, 36, was arrested in the 300 block of West Vine Street in Stockton.
• Rebeca Salcedo, 41, was arrested in the 1100 block of North Airport Way in Stockton.
• David Ramirez, 27, was arrested in the 1500 block of Sierra Creek Drive in Manteca.
"It's a very powerful and direct strike at some very powerful prison and street gangs," U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said at a press conference Thursday at the Stockton Police Department.
Four arrests of suspected Nuestra Familia lieutenants were made Wednesday in Stockton and one in Manteca as the FBI and local agencies struck against an organization that spans the Central Valley and Bay Area. Operation Valley Star has been in the works for 21/2 years, the FBI said. More arrests are expected in Stockton and beyond.
Investigators believe the two leaders and those they worked with were responsible for moving millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine and other drugs from Mexico to California. During the course of making 29 arrests, the FBI said it seized 140 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 16 kilos of cocaine and other drugs, and $80,000 in cash.
Halting meth trade could have an impact on crime that is not gang-related, too, Stockton Police Chief Wayne Hose said.
"Probably 80 to 90 percent of the issues we deal with involve methamphetamine use," he said of crime in Stockton.
The history of the Nuestra Familia explains why that group, and the Norteño gang they control, have a stronghold in rural areas.
Nuestra Familia, meaning "our family," was organized in the 1960s in state prisons by Northern California Latinos, many of them non-English-speaking farm laborers who wanted to protect themselves against exploitation by members of the Southern California Mexican Mafia, Stockton police gang unit Sgt. Rodney Rego said.
Over time, the Nuestra Familia became involved in drug trade and formed a rival syndicate with its top leaders operating from behind bars. Organizers retained connections in rural communities.
Rego said the arrests are not likely to trigger violence within the organization or on Stockton streets.
"It is fairly organized and regimented, and it's not like siblings fighting over an inheritance," he said. "The people who fill those positions are picked and chosen by the people who are higher up."
While police expect Nuestra Familia will fill those spots, they believe they have disrupted the organization significantly and sent a message.
"There have got to be consequences for those responsible for bringing methamphetamine to the streets of our cities," Hose said.
Police must work together with other agencies to bring down top gang organizers like they did this week, he said. Hose compared Operation Valley Star to a similar operation earlier this month in which Stockton police worked with the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement to bring down the suspected leadership of the Loc Town Crips, which operated a Stockton-based nationwide drug operation.
Rego said police need to be able to reach into the upper echelons of a gang in order to stall recruitment.
Susan Kane, the state parole unit supervisor in Stockton, said parole agents will be responsible for trying to keep Nuestra Familia from sending new operatives out onto the street when they are paroled from state prison. She said a gang initiative proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will give state parole agents more resources to target dangerous gang members.
Confirmed Nuestra Familia already are watched more closely after they are paroled, a gang parole agent said.
According to the FBI, those arrested will face 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:30:05 GMT -8
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Post by silentwest on Jun 17, 2010 12:42:49 GMT -8
www.modbee.com/featured/story/763026.htmlModesto Bee Monday, Jun. 29, 2009 Gang injunctions, though popular with law enforcement and widely used in Southern California, remain controversial in some legal circles. While Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager argues that restrictions on 20 members of the Deep South Side Norteños will improve the quality of life for residents in south Modesto, Public Defender Tim Bazar thinks the success or failure of the initiative will lie in its implementation. To supporters, injunctions make neighborhoods safer because gang members can be penalized for actions that otherwise would be legal, such as hanging out in public places, confronting people who disapprove of their lifestyle and wearing clothes meant to show that the gang is a force to be reckoned with. The county's top prosecutor hopes the new penalties will convince law-abiding citizens to clean up their neighborhoods and cooperate with the authorities when crimes occur. "We think this will be an incredibly effective tool," Fladager said. On the other side, critics worry that gang injunctions can cast too wide a net, criminalizing behavior that is typical among teenagers, but only in minority communities, and lumping small-time delinquents in with hard-core criminals who no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt. Although Bazar isn't quite in that camp, he sees a downside, particularly because many of the behav- iors banned by gang injunctions already are banned for people who are convicted of gang-related crimes, serve time and are released on probation or parole. "I've heard other people criticize this approach as a waste of time," Bazar said. Enforcement unclear Just how the injunction will be enforced -- and whether it will be embraced by law-abiding residents of a "safety zone" south of the Tuolumne River and west of Crows Landing Road -- remains to be seen. First, prosecutors must jump through some procedural hoops. Superior Court Judge John G. Whiteside gave temporary approval to the civil injunction June 12, when he issued an order that gives 20 named defendants a chance to contest the proposal at a hearing Thursday. If the judge issues a preliminary injunction, the alleged gang members could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor if they are caught engaging in any of 14 banned behaviors within the safety zone, like being caught with spray paint or tools used for graffiti, acting as a lookout for people selling drugs or being outside after curfew. Prosecutors said they intend to add additional gang members to the injunction if the restrictions are allowed. Authorities said they have documented 51 Norteños who have allegiances to a neighborhood they call Deep South Side Modesto; they believe the gang has more than 150 members and associates. Any named gang member could challenge the constitutionality of the injunction or argue that his inclusion is a mistake because he has no gang ties. If prosecutors prevail in court, the injunction and its restrictions become permanent. People named in a permanent injunction would be subject to the court order indefinitely. They would have to petition the court and prove that they are not gang members to get off the list. Gang injunctions were first used in Los Angeles in 1987 and now are imposed by communities throughout Southern California. They also have been used in San Francisco and San Jose, the Sacramento area and Fresno. Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira, who filed Stanislaus County's injunction, said the constitutional- ity of using public nuisance laws to confront a gang problem was firmly established in 1997, when the California Supreme Court upheld a gang injunction in Santa Clara County. Video & PDF'S Gang injunction aims to take bite out of crimeIncidents of gang-related crime in ModestoMap of gang territories in south Modesto Map of the safety zone ARTICLE #2www.modbee.com/featured/story/763026.htmlModesto Bee Monday, Jun. 29, 2009 Gang injunctions, though popular with law enforcement and widely used in Southern California, remain controversial in some legal circles. While Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager argues that restrictions on 20 members of the Deep South Side Norteños will improve the quality of life for residents in south Modesto, Public Defender Tim Bazar thinks the success or failure of the initiative will lie in its implementation. To supporters, injunctions make neighborhoods safer because gang members can be penalized for actions that otherwise would be legal, such as hanging out in public places, confronting people who disapprove of their lifestyle and wearing clothes meant to show that the gang is a force to be reckoned with. The county's top prosecutor hopes the new penalties will convince law-abiding citizens to clean up their neighborhoods and cooperate with the authorities when crimes occur. "We think this will be an incredibly effective tool," Fladager said. On the other side, critics worry that gang injunctions can cast too wide a net, criminalizing behavior that is typical among teenagers, but only in minority communities, and lumping small-time delinquents in with hard-core criminals who no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt. Although Bazar isn't quite in that camp, he sees a downside, particularly because many of the behav- iors banned by gang injunctions already are banned for people who are convicted of gang-related crimes, serve time and are released on probation or parole. "I've heard other people criticize this approach as a waste of time," Bazar said. Enforcement unclear Just how the injunction will be enforced -- and whether it will be embraced by law-abiding residents of a "safety zone" south of the Tuolumne River and west of Crows Landing Road -- remains to be seen. First, prosecutors must jump through some procedural hoops. Superior Court Judge John G. Whiteside gave temporary approval to the civil injunction June 12, when he issued an order that gives 20 named defendants a chance to contest the proposal at a hearing Thursday. If the judge issues a preliminary injunction, the alleged gang members could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor if they are caught engaging in any of 14 banned behaviors within the safety zone, like being caught with spray paint or tools used for graffiti, acting as a lookout for people selling drugs or being outside after curfew. Prosecutors said they intend to add additional gang members to the injunction if the restrictions are allowed. Authorities said they have documented 51 Norteños who have allegiances to a neighborhood they call Deep South Side Modesto; they believe the gang has more than 150 members and associates. Any named gang member could challenge the constitutionality of the injunction or argue that his inclusion is a mistake because he has no gang ties. If prosecutors prevail in court, the injunction and its restrictions become permanent. People named in a permanent injunction would be subject to the court order indefinitely. They would have to petition the court and prove that they are not gang members to get off the list. Gang injunctions were first used in Los Angeles in 1987 and now are imposed by communities throughout Southern California. They also have been used in San Francisco and San Jose, the Sacramento area and Fresno. Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira, who filed Stanislaus County's injunction, said the constitutional- ity of using public nuisance laws to confront a gang problem was firmly established in 1997, when the California Supreme Court upheld a gang injunction in Santa Clara County.
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Post by yeeecuhzz on Jun 17, 2010 16:38:57 GMT -8
Suspected leaders of a notorious and violent gang were swept up in a dragnet this week that law enforcement officials claim will slow the flood of methamphetamine into this country for years to come. Local, state and federal law enforcement officers this week brought down more than two dozen alleged crime bosses, including the suspected No. 1 and No. 2 street leaders of Nuestra Familia, the executive group that controls the Norteño prison gang. The top commander of the Nuestra Familia, 40-year-old Larry Sixto Amaro, was arrested Wednesday in Hanford by an FBI task force, officials said. Amaro reported directly to Nuestra Familia generals in Pelican Bay State Prison and those at a "super max" prison facility in Colorado, according to investigators. Mario Diaz, Amaro's No. 2, was arrested a month earlier in Los Banos, although a press release stated he was arrested in Stockton. Five arrests were made in San Joaquin County: • Jesse Corral, 35, was arrested in the 7400 block of Karlsberg Circle in Stockton. • Jesus Garcia, 34, was arrested in Stockton; a specific address was not available. • Ernesto Salcedo, 36, was arrested in the 300 block of West Vine Street in Stockton. • Rebeca Salcedo, 41, was arrested in the 1100 block of North Airport Way in Stockton. • David Ramirez, 27, was arrested in the 1500 block of Sierra Creek Drive in Manteca. "It's a very powerful and direct strike at some very powerful prison and street gangs," U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said at a press conference Thursday at the Stockton Police Department. Four arrests of suspected Nuestra Familia lieutenants were made Wednesday in Stockton and one in Manteca as the FBI and local agencies struck against an organization that spans the Central Valley and Bay Area. Operation Valley Star has been in the works for 21/2 years, the FBI said. More arrests are expected in Stockton and beyond. Investigators believe the two leaders and those they worked with were responsible for moving millions of dollars worth of methamphetamine and other drugs from Mexico to California. During the course of making 29 arrests, the FBI said it seized 140 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 16 kilos of cocaine and other drugs, and $80,000 in cash. Halting meth trade could have an impact on crime that is not gang-related, too, Stockton Police Chief Wayne Hose said. "Probably 80 to 90 percent of the issues we deal with involve methamphetamine use," he said of crime in Stockton. The history of the Nuestra Familia explains why that group, and the Norteño gang they control, have a stronghold in rural areas. Nuestra Familia, meaning "our family," was organized in the 1960s in state prisons by Northern California Latinos, many of them non-English-speaking farm laborers who wanted to protect themselves against exploitation by members of the Southern California Mexican Mafia, Stockton police gang unit Sgt. Rodney Rego said. Over time, the Nuestra Familia became involved in drug trade and formed a rival syndicate with its top leaders operating from behind bars. Organizers retained connections in rural communities. Rego said the arrests are not likely to trigger violence within the organization or on Stockton streets. "It is fairly organized and regimented, and it's not like siblings fighting over an inheritance," he said. "The people who fill those positions are picked and chosen by the people who are higher up." While police expect Nuestra Familia will fill those spots, they believe they have disrupted the organization significantly and sent a message. "There have got to be consequences for those responsible for bringing methamphetamine to the streets of our cities," Hose said. Police must work together with other agencies to bring down top gang organizers like they did this week, he said. Hose compared Operation Valley Star to a similar operation earlier this month in which Stockton police worked with the state Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement to bring down the suspected leadership of the Loc Town Crips, which operated a Stockton-based nationwide drug operation. Rego said police need to be able to reach into the upper echelons of a gang in order to stall recruitment. Susan Kane, the state parole unit supervisor in Stockton, said parole agents will be responsible for trying to keep Nuestra Familia from sending new operatives out onto the street when they are paroled from state prison. She said a gang initiative proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will give state parole agents more resources to target dangerous gang members. Confirmed Nuestra Familia already are watched more closely after they are paroled, a gang parole agent said. According to the FBI, those arrested will face 10 years to life in prison if convicted. ;D ;D
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Post by silentwest on Jun 18, 2010 11:00:18 GMT -8
WATSONVILLE -- An alleged prison-gang hit man suspected in the attempted murder of a fellow Norteno gang member four years ago has been arrested by Watsonville police.
Freddie "Danger" Guzman drove the car Sept. 17, 2005 while his accomplice Anthony "Tigre" Rubalcava shot Mark Escobedo in the chest and left him for dead on the side of Highway 152, according to authorities.
But Escobedo, who investigators say was not in good standing with the gang and was marked for murder by Nuestra Familia prison gang leaders, didn't die.
Instead, he helped investigators identify his would-be killers.
Earlier this summer, Rubalcava was arrested, charged and found guilty of gang-motivated attempted murder in Santa Clara County. The 33-year-old was sent to state prison for 55 years to life.
Tuesday, a warrant was issued for Guzman, who was arrested during a traffic stop Wednesday on Arlene Drive, Watsonville police reported. He faces the same sentence, if convicted.
Police said the attempt on Escobedo's life can be traced to Nuestra Familia leaders in prison. Both Rubalcava and Guzman, now 31, served prison sentences before the attack on Escobedo.
Watsonville police Sgt. Saul Gonzalez said the two suspected hit men connected in prison and rose within the Norteno organization. They had marching orders when they were released from prison, Gonzalez said.
One of their instructions, allegedly, was to murder Escobedo.
"It's very hard to trace it back to who actually ordered it," Gonzalez said. "We have a lot of incidents where gang members are assaulted by their own gang for discipline, but some of them can be as minor as being jumped or hit across the face. ... This one seemed like they were trying to kill him."
The three men were not in the same gang subset, but all were players within the Norteno scene in Watsonville and knew each other, according to Gonzalez.
The night Rubalcava and Guzman are thought to have targeted Escobedo, they allegedly told him to drive over Mount Madonna with them to Gilroy to collect money from drug sales. Gonzalez said revenue from narcotics trafficking is taxed by Nortenos and funneled to Nuestra Familia officials in prison.
The trio didn't make it to Gilroy.
Just across the Santa Cruz-Santa Clara county line, Guzman, the driver, pulled off the road, police said. Rubalcava then shot Escobedo in the chest -- he was later convicted of that crime by a jury -- and the two alleged hit men fled.
A passing motorist noticed Escobedo bleeding on the side of the road and called 911, according to investigators, who credit the fast-responding ambulance to Escobedo's survival.
"When they left I think they assumed he was dead," Gonzalez said.
After the shooting, Escobedo, now 29, distanced himself from his gang, police said. Eventually, detectives from Watsonville police and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office put the pieces together.
Escobedo testified against Rubalcava this summer and said Guzman drove the car, police said.
It's still unclear why led gang leaders might have ordered the hit.
"Sometimes it can just be on a belief, a rumor," Gonzalez said, explaining that many of the city's unsolved beatings, stabbings and shootings are likely tied to gang-ordered punishment. "A lot of the stuff, when victims don't cooperate, it is internal conflict."
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Post by silentwest on Jun 18, 2010 11:04:46 GMT -8
Police busted up a Norteño gang initiation "ceremony" just one block outside the Mission gang injunction "safety zone" last week, and ended up charging one man for carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, according to the SFPD.
Shortly after midnight Friday/Saturday, police in plainclothes noticed suspected gang members congregating at 24th and Utah streets. More vehicles arrived with the occupants getting out to join the suspects, making about 15 people total.
The group walked down Utah Street toward 25th to meet with another gathering standing in the middle of Utah across from La Raza Park, totaling approximately 30 people, and a "scuffle" broke out in the middle of the crowd. Knowing that wannabe gangbangers are jumped by the current members to gain entrance into the ranks, the police moved in on the crowd and detained nine people. One was the individual to be initiated, an 18-year-old man with a cut nose and a swollen eye.
Police found a loaded firearm in the the car of Jeffrey Almengor, a 19 year old from San Francisco, which was parked in front of the park. Police charged him with the following crimes:
* Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
* Carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle
* Possession of a stolen firearm
* Possession of a firearm by an active street gang member
* Possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a narcotics violation
* Participating in a criminal street gang
Additionally, the San Francisco Police Department has been busy seizing guns in the Mission over the last week:
* Last Thursday, police stopped Patrick McTeague, an 18-year-old from Antioch, and a companion in a car at 21st and Mission Streets for wearing red, which "indicated possible Norteño gang activity," according to a release. McTeague was carrying a loaded handgun in his jacket pocket, police say.
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Post by silentwest on Sept 11, 2010 10:21:36 GMT -8
More than 150 inmates at the Monterey County Jail are on a hunger strike, officials said, upset over a new policy that limits their supply of soap. Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said the strike began Wednesday with one of the jail pods housing about 120 Norteño street gang members. Richards said two other pods, housing 46 inmates, joined the strike between Thursday and Friday morning. There are more than 1,000 inmates in county jail at this time. "They've missed some meals," Richards said. He said the inmates are limited to one bar of soap, one bottle of shampoo and one tube of toothpaste per week. Previously, he said, the inmates were able to purchase four of each per week. Inmates are able to buy these items with money sent to them by family members. "It was something that fell through the cracks," said Richards, referring to the number of toiletries previously allowed for the inmates. "[The jail staff decided]: 'Wait a minute, there is no need for four bars of soap a week.' " Inmates are given three choices of soap to purchase — 3.2 ounces of Irish Spring for $1.89, 3.1 ounces of Ivory for $1.09 or 3 ounces of a generic brand for 92 cents. Richards said the jail staff is not taking away any of the items from the inmates, except limiting the quantity they are able to buy each week. In the past, he said, inmates have stuffed several bars of soap in socks to use as a weapon. Richards said inmates also have soaped floors to cause jail deputies to slip. Inmates also use bars of soap to hide drugs, he said. Deputies found about 40 bars of soap during a recent search of an inmate's cell. Family members of inmates called on Friday, voicing concerns over the new policy they say violates the privileges of those in custody.
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Post by silentwest on Sept 18, 2010 14:00:48 GMT -8
A coalition of law enforcement agencies has arrested four Nuestra Familia gang leaders and 30 gang members, California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced at a press conference in Oakland on Tuesday. Several of those caught were allegedly given orders to commit murder and other violent crimes by imprisoned gang leaders who sent them encrypted messages via cell phones.
Many of the crimes were allegedly ordered by “incarcerated inmates that are supposed to be serving their time and out of circulation,” said Brown, who served as Oakland’s mayor from 1998 to 2006. “But because of the introduction of cell phones these individuals in prison are maintaining their role, their hierarchical position in the gang.” Brown explained that the imprisoned leaders of Nuestra Familia are ordering the crimes from prison and the crimes are happening out on the streets.
Cracking down on violent street gangs, like Nuestra Familia, is one of Brown’s priorities as he launches into the final few months of his run for California governor. He has supported creating gang-free zones in Los Angeles and backed the Oakland Police Department in the 2008 investigation of the Acorn Gang during which over 40 suspected gang members were arrested in West Oakland.
Nuestra Familia is one of the most powerful of the seven prison gangs in California. It got its start in Folsom Prison in 1968 and its members are mostly Mexican-American or Chicano. With tens of thousands of members throughout the state and hundreds of members inside state prisons, according to the attorney general’s office, Nuestra Familia operates with a strict chain of command and has allegedly been responsible for murders, drug trafficking and weapons charges. The attorney general’s office said some of the members have ties to the Norteños gang, which is active in the Bay Area.
In operation “Street Sweeper,” during which these most recent arrests were made, 250 law enforcement agents, including several Bay Area agencies and the FBI, spread across several California counties looking to take down the leaders at the top of the Nuestra Familia gang. Dozens of people have been arrested, the majority from Visalia and Salinas. In the course of the operation, agents realized that many of the gang members were taking orders from their bosses who were serving time in Pelican Bay State prison, which is near the Oregon border.
“We are up against some very serious criminals, very sophisticated and with nothing else to do in prison than foment more crimes,” said Brown. “When they go to prison, they don’t miss a beat—they continue their associations, their communication and their criminal behavior.” Brown was not clear on how the inmates get the cell phones, but suggested they might be smuggled in by visitors or guards. “Prison is supposed to punish, it’s supposed to be a place where people put their lives back in order and when it becomes, literally, the college of crime, our system fails,” he said.
The attorney general’s office is looking at stopping this type of communication by building certain cell phone towers that would block messages going in and out of prisons. “I believe we can take serious steps to curb this cell phone abuse and the abuse of this technology to foster crime,” said Brown. He said his office is also exploring cell phone jamming technology, but that utilizing this method would be more difficult because the Federal Communications Commission does not allow prisons to jam communications and introducing cell phone jamming would require a change in federal law.
Although the majority of people caught in operation “Street Sweeper” were from central California, Brown warned that Nuestra Familia gang activity is widespread and could include the Bay Area. “I don’t think any place is safe from this type of criminal enterprise,” he said. “It’s only safe if the prisons get better control of the inmates and we engage in greater control of the streets.”
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Post by Ese-Serio on Oct 1, 2010 0:02:21 GMT -8
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Post by Rattboy on Oct 1, 2010 11:35:07 GMT -8
wow i had no idea that Dyno changed his ways...much respect to the homeboy
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