11/14/2023 04:00 am (GMT-0800) | LOS ANGELES

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and FBI along with the U.S. Marshals Service prepared for a takedown operation behind the Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center in Los Angeles early Tuesday morning. The takedown involved netting MS-13 gang members in various locations in Los Angeles. Both LASD and the FBI had their mobile command posts deployed at the location. Several large tents apparently used for processing arrestees were set up as well.

According to the United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California in a new release, federal and local law enforcement officials Tuesday morning announced the unsealing of a federal grand jury indictment charging 23 members and associates of the Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) transnational street gang who allegedly trafficked pound quantities of methamphetamine and illegally possessed ammunition found in a “ghost gun.”

The takedown resulted in the arrests of 17 MS-13 members and associates who are expected to be arraigned on the 36-count indictment Tuesday afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Four of the federal defendants were already in state custody, and authorities continue to search for two defendants named in the indictment.

As part of Tuesday morning’s takedown, law enforcement seized multiple pounds of suspected methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine. Authorities also seized nine firearms and approximately $94,000 in cash – with about $50,000 seized from one residence.

“MS-13, one of the largest and most violent gangs in North America, perpetuates a cycle of violence and destruction, the victims of which are most often immigrants from Central America and Mexico and other Latinos,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “The widespread methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy we have charged reveals that drug-trafficking is the primary method MS-13 uses to finance its modus operandi of murder and mayhem.”

“MS-13 members, allegedly at the direction of an incarcerated Mexican Mafia member, were able to wreak havoc on communities in Los Angeles,” said Donald Alway, the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This case is just the latest joint operation targeting MS-13’s transnational criminal enterprise as we continue to make an impact on their ability to intimidate and threaten law abiding citizens in and around Los Angeles.”

Mara Salvatrucha was formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, and the street gang is now comprised of tens of thousands of individuals in at least 10 states and several Central American countries, notably El Salvador. In the mid-1990s, Mara Salvatrucha became associated with the Mexican Mafia and added the number 13 to its name (“M” is the 13th letter of the Spanish and English alphabets).

This case focuses on MS-13 in Los Angeles and its efforts to traffic methamphetamine in their “territory.” The indictment returned November 8 and unsealed Tuesday, alleges that an imprisoned MS-13 member who also was a member of the Mexican Mafia controlled MS-13 Los Angeles by imposing a rule on all the gang’s Los Angeles-area cliques that required them to buy methamphetamine from Herlyn Barrientos, 46, a.k.a. “Doctorazo,” of Huntington Park, and others. Once the various cliques redistributed the methamphetamine, some profits from that distribution flowed to the imprisoned MS-13 member.

The indictment charges all 23 defendants with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute methamphetamine. Thirty-four of the indictment’s 36 counts charge individual MS-13 members and associates – including Hurtado, Grijalva and Barrientos – with distribution of methamphetamine. One of the indictment’s counts accuses an individual gang member of being a felon unlawfully possessing ammunition inside a “ghost gun.”

"An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court," noted the U.S. Attorney's Office in the news release.

If convicted, each defendant charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison. The distribution of methamphetamine count is punishable by a statutory maximum of life in federal prison. The illegal possession of ammunition count carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.