One of the men and women allegedly involved in the La Mara Salvatrucha gang indicted this week on federal weapons and drug charges is still at large.
The Justice Department announced the indictments Friday against the 16 alleged gang members and associates. All 16 face charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, with two indicted on a charge of being an alien in possession of a firearm and two on assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.
Most of the defendants, who range in age from 18 to 39, were arrested on Aug. 30, though 20-year-old Lorenzo Amador is at large with an outstanding arrest warrant.
The Justice Department alleges the defendants, who operated in Mendota and Los Angeles, Calif., sold drugs on the street to fund trips to obtain drugs or commit acts of violence, put money on the books of gang members already in prison, send money to other MS-13 members in El Salvador, and buying more drugs to then sell. Prosecutors allege members attacked suspected members of a rival gang with a pipe in front of an elementary school in May and in a stabbing in August.
The department’s release states that some of the defendants also facing charges, charged with conspiracy to commit murder with a gang enhancement, in Fresno County Superior Court.
