Federal Crime and Gang Enforcement

Federal agents have arrested 12 alleged members and associates of Los Angeles’ 18th Street gang in a coordinated takedown dubbed "Operation Dead Horse," the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced Thursday. Seven federal indictments accuse the group of running a large‑scale drug trafficking and extortion enterprise across MacArthur Park, Skid Row, Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, using tents in homeless encampments to disguise their operations. Prosecutors say the gang has grown into a major criminal organization with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Mexican Mafia and allege that its street boss, 59‑year‑old Keiko Marie Gonzalez, known as "Moms," acted as the key link to an imprisoned Mexican Mafia member who controlled the gang from a California state prison. Gonzalez is accused of having authority to order killings, including a July 2022 murder of a woman who allegedly failed to pay extortion "taxes," a shooting for which co‑defendants George Carillo and Carlos Beltran are charged with murder in aid of racketeering. Agents seized roughly $80,000 in cash, six firearms, and several pounds of drugs on Thursday, and authorities say the wider investigation has recovered about 175 pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine, while six suspects remain at large, two believed to have fled to Mexico and Guatemala. The case highlights how prison‑based gangs and Mexican cartels continue to drive urban drug markets and violence, and underscores federal efforts to reclaim public spaces like MacArthur Park that residents say have been overrun by open‑air dealing and addiction.