A dozen suspected La Puente gang members were in custody Wednesday on narcotics and fraud charges, federal authorities said.
The suspects, who were arrested Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, are among 17 defendants — five of whom were already in federal and state custody — named in a series of indictments returned by a Los Angeles federal grand jury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The indictment outlines various alleged offenses, including narcotics activity, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, prosecutors said.
The investigation into the gang, which authorities said is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia, was led by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and included a series of wiretaps that allegedly revealed criminal activity by gang members, gang associates and others, federal prosecutors said.
During the five-month probe, authorities allegedly uncovered a scheme to smuggle drugs into the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. One of the indictments alleges that Ricky Lee Thornburg, a reputed gang member who was an inmate at the jail, planned to receive the smuggled methamphetamine and distribute the drugs to other inmates.
That indictment, which charges the suspected supplier of the drugs and a woman who allegedly attempted to smuggle the meth into the facility, alleges that more than two ounces of meth and some heroin — concealed in plastic drinking straws — was intercepted as the woman was preparing to visit gang member Victor Ponce De Leon at Pitchess in May.
The 17 defendants are accused of federal charges including possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, conspiracy to distribute meth, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, felon in possession of a firearm, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, illegal possession of access devices — credit cards — possession of access device making equipment and possession of stolen mail.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the investigation began when authorities learned that De Leon was involved in drug trafficking, with intercepted communications indicating he was willing to sell meth. One of the indictments that names De Leon specifically alleges a drug transaction in which he sold a quarter ounce of meth while armed with a 9mm handgun.
As the probe expanded, authorities also allegedly uncovered an identity theft ring.
While most of the participants are charged in separate cases, stolen credit cards and personal identifying information from numerous common victims were found in the possession of multiple defendants, prosecutors allege.