http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/way-95609-massive-went.html
About 200 Yuba-Sutter law enforcement officers arrested dozens of members of Nuestra Familia, described as a prison gang that controls most Norteños criminal street gang activity in Northern California, authorities said.
Dubbed Operation Crimson Tide, Thursday's effort included 300 officers in Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Yolo, Sacramento and Stanislaus counties.
Crimson is the color worn by Norteños members.
Starting at 5 a.m., officers made 39 arrests and found about 20 pounds of methamphetamine and 26 guns, including two assault rifles and five sawed-off shotguns, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team.
Nuestra Familia distributes methamphetamine from Mexico throughout California, said Hudson.
Nuestra Familia "has been knocking on the devil's door, and sooner or later it's going to get answered" — by law enforcement, Hudson said.
"Operation Crimson Tide stands as a beacon and sets the standard for future comprehensive investigations involving California's most notorious prison gangs," he said.
The California Department of Justice and 21 local law enforc ment agencies participated.
Starting in January, the Crimson Tide investigation led to the Yuba City Police Department arresting five Norteños members charged with fatally shooting four members of the rival Sureños gang in 2004 and 2005, he said.
Those arrested in connection with the murders include Robert Juan Salazar, 24, Nuestra Familia's "regimental commander" in the six-county area, Hudson said.
The arrests of Salazar and other gang leaders "will definitely create a vacuum in our area" for Nuestra Familia, he said.
Hudson described Nuestra Familia as "arguably the most notorious, organized and brutal gang operating within the California prison system."
Bryan Kingston, senior special agent with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Nuestra Familia leaders use smuggled telephones, coded letters and other methods to control the gang from inside prison.
The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, which has a dedicated gang unit, will prosecute all those arrested Thursday, Hudson said.
In March 2004, Salazar allegedly fired a 12-gauge shotgun point blank at Sureños member Francisco Villanueva, who was sitting in the parking lot of a Gray Avenue apartment building with his 6-year-old nephew.
In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown said the Villanueva murder "began Salazar's climb up the organizational ladder" of the Norteños. Salazar then ordered the murders of other rival gang members in 2004 and 2005, Brown said.
Brown said a total of 59 gang members were arrested since Operation Crimson Tide began. He pegged Thursday's arrest total at 33 with 24 firearms seized, numbers slightly different than Hudson's.
Cesar Noe Villa, 26, Nuestro Familia's acting regimental commander since Salazar's arrest, was among those arrested Thursday, said Hudson.
Hudson described Nuestra Familia as highly organized — a trait that will make it easier to prosecute individual members for conspiracy.
Regiment commanders like Salazar "manage the systems for teaching recruits, collecting taxes from illicit gang activity and direct everything from who gets killed to how guns are distributed among street soldiers (soldados). As young Hispanics are cycled in and out of juvenile hall and prison, they are literally nurtured into a life of commitment to Nuestra Familia, a commitment enforced by blood," Hudson said.
Members pay $250 a month in dues, he said.
Another goal of Operation Crimson Tide is to segregate Nuestra Familia members in prison instead of putting them in the general population where they are "revered" by other inmates and can advance the gang's cause, he said.
Between 2004 and 2006, the Norteños versus Sureños war led to an average 170 shots fired calls per year to Yuba-Sutter law enforcement agencies. Anti-gang efforts since then have cut the number in half, Hudson said.
Brown said those arrested Thursday "chose to join dangerous gangs that deal in meth and murder. By removing them from society, we are disrupting their criminal activities and making the people of Northen California safer."
About 200 Yuba-Sutter law enforcement officers arrested dozens of members of Nuestra Familia, described as a prison gang that controls most Norteños criminal street gang activity in Northern California, authorities said.
Dubbed Operation Crimson Tide, Thursday's effort included 300 officers in Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Yolo, Sacramento and Stanislaus counties.
Crimson is the color worn by Norteños members.
Starting at 5 a.m., officers made 39 arrests and found about 20 pounds of methamphetamine and 26 guns, including two assault rifles and five sawed-off shotguns, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team.
Nuestra Familia distributes methamphetamine from Mexico throughout California, said Hudson.
Nuestra Familia "has been knocking on the devil's door, and sooner or later it's going to get answered" — by law enforcement, Hudson said.
"Operation Crimson Tide stands as a beacon and sets the standard for future comprehensive investigations involving California's most notorious prison gangs," he said.
The California Department of Justice and 21 local law enforc ment agencies participated.
Starting in January, the Crimson Tide investigation led to the Yuba City Police Department arresting five Norteños members charged with fatally shooting four members of the rival Sureños gang in 2004 and 2005, he said.
Those arrested in connection with the murders include Robert Juan Salazar, 24, Nuestra Familia's "regimental commander" in the six-county area, Hudson said.
The arrests of Salazar and other gang leaders "will definitely create a vacuum in our area" for Nuestra Familia, he said.
Hudson described Nuestra Familia as "arguably the most notorious, organized and brutal gang operating within the California prison system."
Bryan Kingston, senior special agent with the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Nuestra Familia leaders use smuggled telephones, coded letters and other methods to control the gang from inside prison.
The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, which has a dedicated gang unit, will prosecute all those arrested Thursday, Hudson said.
In March 2004, Salazar allegedly fired a 12-gauge shotgun point blank at Sureños member Francisco Villanueva, who was sitting in the parking lot of a Gray Avenue apartment building with his 6-year-old nephew.
In a press release, Attorney General Jerry Brown said the Villanueva murder "began Salazar's climb up the organizational ladder" of the Norteños. Salazar then ordered the murders of other rival gang members in 2004 and 2005, Brown said.
Brown said a total of 59 gang members were arrested since Operation Crimson Tide began. He pegged Thursday's arrest total at 33 with 24 firearms seized, numbers slightly different than Hudson's.
Cesar Noe Villa, 26, Nuestro Familia's acting regimental commander since Salazar's arrest, was among those arrested Thursday, said Hudson.
Hudson described Nuestra Familia as highly organized — a trait that will make it easier to prosecute individual members for conspiracy.
Regiment commanders like Salazar "manage the systems for teaching recruits, collecting taxes from illicit gang activity and direct everything from who gets killed to how guns are distributed among street soldiers (soldados). As young Hispanics are cycled in and out of juvenile hall and prison, they are literally nurtured into a life of commitment to Nuestra Familia, a commitment enforced by blood," Hudson said.
Members pay $250 a month in dues, he said.
Another goal of Operation Crimson Tide is to segregate Nuestra Familia members in prison instead of putting them in the general population where they are "revered" by other inmates and can advance the gang's cause, he said.
Between 2004 and 2006, the Norteños versus Sureños war led to an average 170 shots fired calls per year to Yuba-Sutter law enforcement agencies. Anti-gang efforts since then have cut the number in half, Hudson said.
Brown said those arrested Thursday "chose to join dangerous gangs that deal in meth and murder. By removing them from society, we are disrupting their criminal activities and making the people of Northen California safer."