Gang task force dismantles organization controlling Hispanic gangs in Orange County

LAWFUEL:

An anti-gang task force this morning arrested 15 defendants charged in a federal racketeering indictment with exercising control over Hispanic street gangs across Orange County. The indictment alleges that members of the Ojeda Organization - named after leader and Mexican Mafia member Peter Ojeda - extorted "taxes" from street gangs and punished non-payers with assaults.

In addition to the arrests made by well over 100 agents and officers associated with the Santa Ana Gang Task Force, ten defendants are already in state custody.

The three-count indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana on June 8 and unsealed this morning, asserts that the Ojeda Organization engaged in extortion and assault, as well as assisting in the distribution of narcotics throughout Orange County. Controlled by Peter Ojeda, the organization included high-ranking members of several Hispanic street gangs, which helped the organization exert its influence "from the streets of Orange County into the Orange County jail system and the California correctional system," according to the indictment.

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