Dozens Of Gang Members Arrested In Narcotics Bust Near LAX

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Twenty-seven people linked to a Lennox street gang were arrested Wednesday, culminating an 18-month investigation of extortion and narcotics trafficking in the area east of Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

Nine of those under arrest face federal charges in an 11-count racketeering indictment, while others face potential prosecution by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Those in custody include a woman booked on a federal weapons charge; eight on state narcotics charges; five probation violators; two on federal charges of illegal re-entry after deportation; and two on suspicion of being illegal aliens, prosecutors said.

The federal indictment that led to the crackdown focuses on Lennox 13, a street gang formed in the mid-1960s by Mexican-Americans in the Lennox area of unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Lennox 13's membership is estimated at 650, with roughly 250 members regularly conducting criminal activities, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The "13" stands for the letter M and was added to the gang's name about 20 years ago when it became associated with the Mexican Mafia.

According to the indictment, drug sales comprise the bulk of the gang's profits.

In the gang's territory, narcotics were typically sold by street-level dealers who were allowed to do business only if they coughed up a regular "tax" to the gang. In exchange for the payments, Lennox 13 members protected the dealers from robbers and competitors, prosecutors said.

The indictment also alleges that the gang generated money through routine extortion of legitimate business owners operating in the area claimed by Lennox 13.

In turn, the gang paid a tax to the Mexican Mafia, which provided protection to Lennox 13 members in the prison system, prosecutors said.

In addition to the tax paid to the Mexican Mafia, the gang used its illegal profits to purchase weapons and drugs, pay attorneys' fees for gang members charged with crimes, contribute to funeral costs for gang members who were killed, and deposit money into the prison accounts of incarcerated members, according to the indictment.

"The drug-related violence of street gangs continues to inflict devastation in many of our communities," said Timothy J. Landrum, special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles field operations.

The indictment also includes a criminal forfeiture count involving all property and money associated with the offenses alleged in the racketeering conspiracy charge.

The Internal Revenue Service, working in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies in the case, "follows the money trail to financially disrupt and dismantle racketeering and narcotics trafficking organizations," said Leslie P. DeMarco, special agent-in-charge of IRS criminal investigations in Los Angeles.

"We hit the bad guys where it hurts — in their wallets — by taking away their assets and profits," he said.

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