[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] federal grand jury has charged 83 members of the Mexican Mafia — also known as La Eme — for running a drug trafficking ring and ensuing violence from inside the Los Angeles County jails as a result of a massive operation three years in the making.
The members were charged in two federal racketeering indictments. One of the indictments describes how members of the Mexican Mafia were able to extort prisoners inside the L.A. County jail system and control the smuggling of drugs and narcotic sales, the United States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California announced in a statement. Of the 83 charged, 32 defendants were taken into custody and 35 defendants are already in state prison.
The Mexican Mafia is a large prison gang with ties and influence among gangs throughout Southern California. In April, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Mexican Mafia instructed East L.A. gang members to execute a racially charged fire-bombing in the Ramona Gardens Housing Projects.
The indictments “detail the power structure of the Mexican Mafia and its violent exercise of authority over Latino street gangs in Southern California and inside the sprawling LACJ,” the statement said.
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