Attorney General mounts major gang crackdown in Salinas
April 23, 2010
Law enforcement officials arrested 37 members of two separate street gangs, responsible for more than three dozen murders and 200 shootings in Salinas and surrounding areas. [Attorney General’s Office]
The mass arrest on Thursday, coordinated through the office of state Attorney General Jerry Brown, involved more than 200 agents of the Gang Suppression Enforcement Program and other agencies.
The eight-month operation targeted gang members believed to be the most dangerous in the Salinas area. Agents also seized 40 pounds of cocaine, 14 pounds of marijuana, nine ounces of meth, $34,000 in cash, and a dozen guns. An additional 57 gang-related arrests had been made previously.
More than 40 federal and state search warrants were served in the sweep, which included neighborhoods of Salinas and San Jose. Figures show that Salinas currently endures a violent crime rate three times the national average.
The two gangs are believed to have ties to Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.
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