68 people charged in connection with violent white supremacist street gang in L.A., feds say
Sixty-eight people have been charged in a federal grand jury indictment detailing alleged crimes by a white supremacist street gang which prosecutors say maintains an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang.
On Wednesday, FBI officials joined federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials in downtown Los Angeles to announce the arrest of 42 people in connection with the investigation — including 29 defendants arrested that same day in raids around the L.A. area. Those defendants were expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in downtown LA later Wednesday while the other 13 remain in custody. A total of 68 people were charged in a 76-count indictment returned by a grand jury on Sept. 26.
According to federal prosecutors, the Peckerwoods in the San Fernando Valley has been accused of a years-long pattern of racketeering, extensive drug trafficking, illegal firearms possession as well as COVID-19 loan fraud. The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, details the seizure of dozens of pounds of fentanyl, heroin and meth as well as several illegal firearms.
The gang allegedly worked with other organized crime groups based out of California prisons.
"As a white supremacist gang, the Peckerwoods at times takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California's dominant prison-based white supremacist gang, and maintains an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, which controls most Latino street gangs in California," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement announcing the indictment.
Federal prosecutors allege the gang espouses a violent white supremacist ideology and uses Nazi tattoos, graffiti and iconography such as swastikas and images of Nazi aircraft to do so.
When prosecutors released images of the defendants during a news conference Wednesday, the phrase "Operation Hate One Eight" was listed above their photos. A common area code in the San Fernando Valley, where the gang is allegedly based, is 818.
"The Peckerwoods' violent white-supremacist ideology and wide-ranging criminal activity pose a grave menace to our community," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in statement, describing the group as a "destructive force."
In the statement, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the Justice Department has "dealt a decisive blow" to the gang through the arrests and indictment of dozens of people believed to be members and associates.
According to federal prosecutors, members and associates used social media to communicate with each other about their alleged crimes, define gang rules, identify gang members in good standing and target those who break the group's rules. Prosecutors say they do this through members-only Facebook groups and private, direct messages sent on online platforms.
Some of the charges listed in the indictment include conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, bank fraud, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, distribution of controlled substances, aggravated identity theft, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.
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