Dozens of Alleged SF Valley Gangsters Nabbed in Crackdown

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY --Dozens of reputed members and associates of a San Fernando Valley street gang were arrested Feb. 13 in connection with a series of federal indictments alleging racketeering, weapons violations and drug trafficking.

According to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office, a total of 45 defendants were named in five indictments regarding the case targeting the San Fernando Valley gang. The main case alleges that 31 members of the gang took part in racketeering activity to control turf in Sun Valley, North Hollywood and Burbank by attacking rival gang members and extorting ``taxes'' from drug dealers.

Among the acts alleged in the indictment are the April 2016 shooting of a rival gang member on Lankershim Boulevard, the manufacture of untraceable ``ghost guns'' without serial numbers sold to gang members and mass sales of methamphetamine.

Prosecutors said 25 members of the San Fernando Valley-based gang were arrested Wednesday, while another 11 were already in custody and a search was continuing for the remaining nine defendants, four of whom are believed to be in Mexico.

The U.S. Attorney's Office noted that the crackdown was a follow-up to a series of indictments targeting the same gang 14 years ago following the 2003 killing of Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka.

City News Service contributed to this report/Image via Shutterstock