CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 10, 2004 | Catherine Saillant, Times Staff Writer
More than 200 opponents of Oxnard's 2-month-old gang injunction have filed court papers alleging it is being used to harass innocent people and trample civil liberties, while stigmatizing dozens of youths as "urban terrorists." Attorneys for the Colonia Chiques, the gang targeted in the June 1 injunction, will use the declarations filed by community members to make the case that the court-ordered crackdown is too punitive and should be thrown out.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
May 20, 2005 | Susannah Rosenblatt, Times Staff Writer
Police on Thursday arrested the last remaining suspect in last week's slaying of a Corona teenager -- as thousands gathered the same day for the victim's funeral. Corona and Riverside police, acting on a tip, arrested Edward Juan Cuellar, 16, of Corona about 1 a.m. after the sport utility vehicle he was riding in with five other people was stopped on Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside, said Sgt. Neil Reynolds of the Corona Police Department.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 1, 2000 | RICHARD MAROSI, TIMES STAFF WRITER
A Santa Ana gang leader was found guilty of federal drug trafficking charges Thursday, capping a two-year investigation that authorities said broke the back of one of Southern California's largest drug distribution networks. Jose Castellon faces life in prison when sentenced March 19. He was convicted of heroin and cocaine trafficking, and manufacturing methamphetamines. The Castellon-led ring, authorities said, was responsible for making $1 million worth of methamphetamines a month.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 21, 2005 | From a Times Staff Writer
The FBI and Los Angeles police have arrested a 25-year-old man in the shooting deaths of at least three rival gang members, officials said Thursday. William Vasquez was taken into custody Oct. 13 at the apartment complex where he lived in the Westlake district, investigators said. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three murder charges and was being held on $2-million bail. "They believe he may be tied to other murders," said Lt. Paul Vernon, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 10, 2006 | Lance Pugmire and Amanda Covarrubias, Times Staff Writers
More than 750 law enforcement officials conducted sweeps in five counties Thursday, aimed at breaking the back of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, an organization founded in the 1960s that authorities say is tied to dealing drugs and weapons. Twenty-two people were arrested in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties, culminating a three-year investigation aimed at curtailing the operations of the Vagos organization.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
October 18, 2007 | Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writer
As the story goes, the East Coast Crips robbed a Florencia 13 drug connection of a large quantity of dope nearly a decade ago. Since then, the tale of how a black street gang ripped off a Latino rival has taken on mythic proportions. But to this day police are uncertain if the fabled heist ever occurred. "You hear so many different variations of this crime," said Terry Burgin, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gang detective. "Who knows what really happened?