San Mateo County Investigators Aid Feds in MS-13 Probe

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Federal officials unsealed a grand jury indictment Friday with more than a dozen charges against 17 suspected gang members who are alleged to have committed felonies like racketeering, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

The 14-count indictment names 17 alleged members of the international criminal gang MS-13 as defendants.

The indictment also alleges that they operated as part of a clique claiming ownership of a multi-block area of the Mission District and the South of Market neighborhood, according to U.S.

Attorney for the Northern District of California David Anderson.

"San Francisco is suffering from gang violence and gang claims on our public spaces," Anderson said.

"Our parks and playgrounds and other public spaces do not belong to transnational criminal organizations, our public spaces belong to all of us."

The indictment lists 10 specific allegations of gang violence in the highlighted area of activity, including a shooting at the corner of 21st and Hampshire streets, a stabbing at a bus stop at the corner of 24th Street and Potrero Avenue and a "brutal beating and stabbing" in Dolores Park, Anderson said.

Department of Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Tatum King announced that the agency conducted a long-term, multi-city investigation into MS-13 that culminated in a "criminal enforcement operation" Thursday in the cities of San Francisco, Daly City, Mountain View, Menlo Park and South San Francisco.

Officers arrested six of the indictment's defendants during the sting operation, according to King.

The other 11 were already in custody on other charges. "As a scourge on our society, MS-13 transnational criminal gang members prey upon the communities they live in, committing the most heinous violent acts against their victims who may be afraid to speak out and request assistance from law enforcement," King said.

The investigation began in 2017, King said, and HSI agents worked with San Francisco, South San Francisco and Mountain View police officers, San Mateo County gang investigators and the U.S. Marshal Service during Thursday's operation.

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