The Los Angeles Times reports today that members of one LA's most notorious gangs were indicted today in protection-racket scheme targeting taco truck vendors in Los Angeles:
A grand jury indictment was scheduled to be unsealed Monday for about two dozen reputed members of the notorious MS-13 gang in connection with a violent extortion racket that targeted food-truck operators.
The victims of the alleged organized shakedown were not four-wheeled foodie cuisine servers, such as the Kogi BBQ truck, but those who serve blue collar workers at construction sites, according to several law enforcement sources familiar with the case.
Those arrested were reputed Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, gang members but the sources, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the case before details were revealed in court, said the arrests were the culmination of a year-long investigation centered in the Los Angeles Police Department's Hollywood Division.
Just another example of how hard it is out there slangin street food-- our local taqueros work long hours and are squeezed on all sides by fuel prices, local regulators, drunk customers, and criminal elements. Salute your local lonchera the best way you can- stop in for a taco tonight.
