Police Raids

For 15 years, the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has been trying to draw attention to itself and prove that a modest Orange County institution can compete in the major leagues of the exhibition world. Some of the big names of world culture have found their way into its galleries, including fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls and an array of ancient Egyptian mummies that have helped draw 150,000 paying visitors over the last 12 months.

American and Italian authorities Thursday swept up dozens of suspects wanted in connection with a transatlantic drug trafficking operation and a string of U.S. Mafia crimes dating to the 1970s. The coordinated operation -- which was three years in the making -- targeted at least 30 suspects in Sicily and 62 in New York, law enforcement officials said. By Thursday night, most of those in New York and New Jersey had been taken into custody.

European Union antitrust regulators raided an Intel Corp. office and computer retailers Tuesday in search of evidence they may have broken rules to ensure competition in the market for computer chips, the European Commission and Intel said. Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy confirmed that the company's Munich, Germany, office had been raided and said the company would cooperate closely with the investigation.

Civil rights groups filed a petition in federal court Thursday seeking a restraining order against immigration officials who allegedly blocked workers detained in a raid at a Van Nuys manufacturing plant from consulting with their attorneys.

Even as gentrification swept Venice in the last decade and the district's once notorious gang activity dropped, the Venice Shoreline Crips kept a stubborn hold over the Oakwood Recreation Center, authorities say. According to authorities, the gang exerted a brazen influence over the facility, turning outsiders away and using it as an outpost for drug sales -- particularly within the last several years. On some occasions, the basketball court saw more drug deals than free throws, they said.

Authorities raided a busy downtown Los Angeles maternity clinic Wednesday, arresting two physicians and three administrators on suspicion of defrauding the Medi-Cal program of $2 million by recruiting thousands of poor, pregnant women for unnecessary medical procedures. The arrests at Downtown M Medical Clinic at 2500 Wilshire Blvd. culminated a two-year investigation by the Medical Board of California, which began looking into the clinic after former employees complained of illegal billing.

Civil rights groups said Thursday that they had reached a settlement with federal officials guaranteeing that workers nabbed in an immigration raid last month in Van Nuys can be accompanied by an attorney to all meetings and interrogations.

Texas child welfare officials said Saturday that they had removed 183 people -- including 137 children -- from an isolated polygamist compound in southwestern Texas after allegations that a 16-year-old girl there had been sexually abused.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the federal government to review its immigration enforcement priorities, warning that work-site raids on "non-exploitative" businesses could have "severe and lasting effects" on the local economy.

Investigators with search warrants raided the offices of San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus on Thursday night, carrying off an undisclosed number of computers and files. The district attorney's office, which conducted the raid, would not disclose its nature Friday. "The search warrants were served and the investigation is ongoing," spokeswoman Susan Mickey said. "We will provide more information when we are able." Postmus issued a statement saying his office was cooperating fully.