by Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter June 30, 2008 11:00 A.M. PDT

 

EL PASO/JUAREZ METRO-BORDERPLEX: Dangerous gang members arrested along with over 200 others who were wanted for violent crimes in Operation Falcon 08. This massive effort was lead by the U.S. Marshals Service intended to catch people wanted on warrants for violent crimes, sex offenses and other felonies.

At the same time another massive law enforcement operation targeting violent street gangs in Los Angeles was taking place. Seventy members and associates of the Drew Street clique of the Avenues street gang have been named in a federal racketeering indictment. The leadership of the Drew Street gang – notably “shot-caller” Francisco “Pancho” Real, who is the lead defendant in the indictment – collects “taxes” from those who sell narcotics in the neighborhood, according to the indictment. A portion of the taxes is then paid by gang leaders to the Mexican Mafia. Drew Street gang members also raise funds for the Mexican Mafia by conducting armed home-invasion robberies and collecting extortion payments from area businesses. The Mexican Mafia allegedly authorized Francisco Real to take control of the Drew Street clique less than a year ago.

 

(L-R:) DEA Los Angeles Associate SAC/HIDTA Director Briane Grey and U.S. Attorney Tom O'Brien speak at 3:30 a.m. PST at the unified command post prior to the operation.

Many of the U.S street gangs are believed acting as enforcers for the Mexican drug cartels and their Mexican gang surrogates. Federal law enforcement across America is clamping down on this type of national and international organized crime activity perpetrated by these out of control street gangs. The LA Rico case alleges extensive narcotics-trafficking activity, murders, and attempted murders of police, extortion and witness tampering by these gang members.

U.S. Marshals Service officials said the arrests in El Paso began in the pre-dawn hours to catch the wanted subjects off balance.  The arrests were conducted by an 80 officer task force from various federal, state and local agencies organized into 10 teams.

"We measure success one fugitive at a time," LaFayette Collins, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement. "Any time we remove a sexual predator, gang member, or other violent felon, that street, a neighborhood and a community became a little safer."

The El Paso times reported today that “Operation Falcon,” (which stands for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally), is an effort that has taken place in different cities throughout the United States in recent years but had not in El Paso since 2006. The effort included the work of El Paso police, sheriff's deputies and several state and federal agencies.

 El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca

"We participate in many initiatives and this is one of them," El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca said. "We do this to make sure El Paso is a better and safer place to live by going after people wanted on warrants."

Among those arrested was Elbert Mullin, living in El Paso and Juarez, an alleged member of the ruthless Georgia Boys gang, whom are connected to the Gangster Disciples, U.S. Marshals Service supervisory deputy Gerry Payan said.

The Gangster Disciples, which was created in south Chicago in the 1960s, is one of the largest street gangs in the nation. The round up included a total of 12 suspected members of various other El Paso gangs.

The Georgia Boys have been linked to El Paso's Barrio Azteca Gang  One Of The Most Dangerous In Nation, MS-13 and other U.S. and Mexican gangs and are believed to have penetrated the U.S. Army and become soldiers at Fort Bliss, according to a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command report in 2006 about gang activity in the military.

The Army investigation reported that in 2006, four soldiers believed to be associated with the Georgia Boys assaulted and robbed two soldiers in a parking lot on post. The report was said to be law enforcement sensitive. Two of the soldiers in the robbery were court-martialed and found guilty. The other two were found guilty of violating Army regulations. Many government and other investigators believe there is gang members in the army and some who are active in El Paso are stationed at Ft. Bliss and are involved extensively in narcotics-trafficking activity, murders on both sides of the U.S. Mexican border, and are operating with other gang members in El Paso and drug cartels and their gangs in Juarez Mexico.

Mullin, 28, was allegedly in possession of a handgun when he was captured on two prior counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and other charges, Payan said. It is believed that Mullin and other gang members on the border have ties to the U.S. and Mexican military. The El Paso Journal has been told by a reliable source, which insists on remaining nameless but has indicated that there is a federal task force operating both inside the military and out side investigating the relationship between the U.S. armed forces and American and Mexican gangs.

During the course of the L.A. investigation, authorities seized multiple firearms, including 7 guns that were discovered during this morning’s operation. Members of the Drew Street gang obtained guns from a number of sources, one of whom was bringing firearms from Arizona, which they used in relation to various crimes, according to the indictment.

Sources: U.S. Marshals Service, Border Patrol, Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, DEA, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Probation, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas Office of the Inspector General, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, El Paso Police Department and El Paso County Constable Precinct 5. LAPD, CHP, L.A. County Sheriff’s Office.

 

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