Federal agents and police swept into a South Los Angeles housing project Wednesday and arrested dozens of alleged gang members indicted on federal racketeering charges for murder, drug dealing and assaults, law enforcement officials said.
The raid against the Pueblo Bishop Bloods, a group believed to have long kept a tight, violent grip on drug sales and other illegal activity in the Pueblo del Rio housing project, was the culmination of a two-year investigation by the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department and other agencies, officials said.
Code-named Operation Family Ties because of the gang's tight-knit affiliations, the sweep targeted a few dozen alleged members of the gang who are accused of various federal charges in a broad, 88-page indictment handed down last week by a grand jury.
Nineteen were arrested on federal charges Wednesday. Others named in the indictment were already in custody on unrelated charges and several more are fugitives, according to information released by the agencies. Ten other gang members were taken into custody on state narcotics charges.
