18 members of MacArthur Park gang are indicted - The 18th Street clique is accused of employing intimidation and violence to control cocaine sales in the poor, largely immigrant area.

The park, surrounded by poor, largely immigrant communities, was the site of the fatal shooting last month of a 23-day-old baby, the unintended victim of what officials called an extortion attempt by street criminals.

Wednesday's indictment charges the members of a subset of the 18th Street gang called the Columbia Lil Cycos with a conspiracy, which authorities say was directed by Sergio Pantoja out of a tattoo shop that he owns on West 6th Street.

"A new generation of gang members has risen to fill the power vacuum created after we successfully prosecuted the prior leadership," U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien said. "Today, we have again cut off the head of this organization and dismantled its narcotics distribution operations."

The Los Angeles city attorney's office filed a companion abatement lawsuit to shut down operations at Pantoja's business, Unico's Tattoos. Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo, said the action was designed to "remove a gang asset and staging area."

Herbert Brown, head of the FBI in Los Angeles, said the government was trying to "liberate" residents from fear of the 18th Street gang.

"We're hopeful today's enforcement actions encourage members of the public to come forward and report crime in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles, and that citizens understand they do not have to live in fear, that the 18th Street gang does not control the area in which they live, and that together we can prevail."

The charges came in multiple indictments alleging that the clique was responsible for narcotics distribution, firearms trafficking, illegal firearm possession and immigration violations. In total, authorities said, a dozen people have been arrested; four defendants were already in custody and two defendants have been identified only by street nicknames.

Pantoja, 31, who is known on the street as "Tricky," and his wife, Ingrid Veronica Flores Tercero, 34, were arrested Wednesday. They face potential life sentences if convicted.

The main indictment lists 158 acts from Feb. 16, 2005, to June 8, 2007, constituting the alleged conspiracy. The indictment did not state the total amount of cocaine involved in the trafficking, but it cited three transactions on separate days in April 2006 involving quantities of up to 48 grams.