Authorities: Third Surenos gang member arrested in South Lake Tahoe
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - A third member of the Surenos gang was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on Monday, according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.
Authorities said they arrested Jose Medina, saying he sold FBI Safe Streets Investigators narcotics, firearms and parts to convert a semi-automatic gun into a fully automatic gun.
Media, a member of the Surenos gang, is a convicted felon, which prohibits him from possessing firearms and ammunition, according to authorities. He is on active parole in El Dorado County for being a felon and having a firearm.
After obtaining a search and arrest warrant from a home on Chris Avenue in South Lake Tahoe, authorities said Medina surrendered.
During the search of the home, authorities said they found cocaine packaged for sale, an illegal short-barreled AR-15 style rifle, a Glock handgun with a 30-round magazine and illegal pars to convert a semi-automatic gun into a fully automatic gun.
Medina is being held at the El Dorado County Jail on multiple charges, including being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, being in possession and transporting machine guns and sales of machine guns.
The South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, El Dorado District Attorney's Office, FBI, Douglas County Sheriff's Office and the Carson City Sheriff's Office completed Operation Bear Trap.
This operation targeted narcotics and illegal firearms in the Tahoe Basin, leading to authorities making 76 arrests to date.
Oscar Nunez and Carlos Perez are two other Suerno gang members who have been arrested, according to authorities. Nunez was arrested in May for selling cocaine and illegal firearm parts to investigators. Perez was arrested in 2021 for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and possession of child pornography, authorities said.
