ICE Gang Unit Takes Down Drug and Weapon Traffickers
Three Bell Gardens men among 11 alleged gang members facing federal charges.
By Gloria Angelina Castillo, EGP Staff Writer
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Gang Unit seized dozens of high-powered weapons and arrested 11 men—three of them Bell Gardens residents—on Sept. 24; they face federal charges for trafficking weapons and drugs following a nine month investigation.
Two Bell Gardens half-brothers, Henry “Silent” Valenzuela, 37, Sergio “Lil Silent” Calderon, 23, and their stepfather, Javier “Padrastro” Avila Lopez, 49 of Watts, are identified as heads of “Barrio Evil 13” in a sworn affidavit by a federal ICE agent.
An undocumented immigrant and Bell Gardens resident, Everado “Lalo” Venegas-Lumbreras, 38, was also arrested. He was allegedly a “runner” for Lopez and transported and delivered narcotics and firearms. Lumbreras’ has an outstanding deportation order dating back to 1999.
The investigation is part of an ongoing initiative by ICE’s National Gang Unit, “Operation Community Shield,” which investigates transnational street gangs conducting crime in the U.S. and other countries, according to an ICE statement and the affidavit.
Dozens of high-powered weapons, including assault rifles, handguns, silencers, a shotgun and thousands of rounds of ammunition were seized at four locations where search warrants were served, federal officials said.
The affidavit listed Valenzuela’s home in the 6600 block of Ajax Avenue, Calderon’s residence in the 5800 block of Gage Avenue and a warehouse in the 7500 block of Scout Ave. where additional illegal weapons were found, according to Dixon.
ICE Spokesperson Virginia Kice told EGP that the gang is based in South Los Angeles, “but several of the members do currently reside in Bell Gardens.”
According to the affidavit, Valenzuela claimed to be a hit-man for a Tijuana Cartel and said he had been paid $15,000 for a “hit” in Barstow, California on Sept. 2. He also allegedly tried to recruit an undercover investigator to carry out “hits” in the Los Angeles area for $5,000 to $10,000. Valenzuela said he had six more murders-for-hire in Los Angeles still to carry out.
Valenzuela has a criminal record dating back to 1999 that includes arrests for vandalism and possession of a controlled substance. He was charged in 2007 with assault with a deadly weapon, but was not convicted.
His younger half-brother, Calderon, was acquitted of the same assault charge. In 2003 he was arrested by Vernon police for vandalism, but was not convicted, according to the affidavit.
Valenzuela and Caldron’s stepfather, Lopez, was arrested in 1999 for Shooting at a Dwelling, and later convicted of Discharging a Firearm in Public.
Lopez allegedly told an informant that he smuggled undocumented immigrants and made frequent trips to Mexico to escort “load vehicles” across the border. He said he charged $2,500 per person.
The three men are accused of acquiring and distributing narcotics (cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine) and firearms in Los Angeles and Bell Gardens.
“The gang members and associates charged in this criminal complaint are alleged to have trafficked not just in drugs, but in weapons, and not just any weapons, but weapons clearly intended for criminal conduct, including an AK-47 assault rifle, a Tec-9 sub-machinegun, a MAC-11 sub-machinegun, and a sawed-off shotgun,” said Acting U.S. Attorney George S. Cardona in a statement. “The arrests made yesterday eliminate a source of firearms that would otherwise be out on the streets being used to commit additional violent crimes.”
Also arrested and facing federal charges for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana are: Eduardo Ortega-Plascencia, 39, an undocumented immigrant residing in East Los Angeles; Margarito “Tito” Enciso, 27, of Long Beach; and Silverio Palma-Carlin, 31, of Jalisco, Mexico. Two other men have also been arrested on state drug trafficking charges: Francisco Arellano, 32, and Alfredo Rutillo-Medina, 27, both of Nayarit, Mexico, according to ICE.
If convicted, the maximum possible penalty for the charges is life in prison, according to ICE.
An ICE spokesperson, Virginia Kice, told EGP the gang is based in South Los Angeles, “but several of the members do currently reside in Bell Gardens.”
Bell Police Department Detective Terry Dixon, who assisted in the investigation and carrying out the search warrants, said “Barrio Evil 13” is a new gang in Bell Gardens. It is believed the gang members have moved there, and did not sprout from the community, he said. The Bell Police Department has a part-time field officer who assists ICE’s Gang Unit, he told EGP.
“That’s all we’re targeting, gangs,” Dixon told EGP. “We’re not targeting ‘average Joe’ citizens.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services; and officers from the Bell, Huntington Park, Vernon and Long Beach police departments assisted in the arrests.
The Bell Gardens Police Department was aware of the investigation, but did not participate in the operation because personnel were investigating other crimes, according to Lt. Jeffrey Travis.
In late August, Bell Gardens was included in a surveillance operation that spanned from Los Angeles to Calexico. Sixteen alleged associates of the Mexico-based Sinaloa drug cartel, none of them Bell Gardens residents, were indicted and more than 550 pounds of drugs were seized during ”Operation Silver Fox,” an eight-month undercover investigation.
On Sept. 15, Bell Gardens police announced that violent crimes had dropped 23 percent in the city, from 992 last year to 764 for the same period this year. Aggravated assaults reported to the police department were down 47 percent compared to last year, they said.
Only one homicide has been recorded this year, compared to two for the same period in 2008, according to Bell Gardens Police Chief Secretary Barbara Sampson.
Lt. Travis told EGP that this year’s homicide involved two homeless men who were pushing each other, when one fell and hit his head and died from the injury. The assailant has not been arrested.
Bell Gardens resident Maria Garcia, 61, told EGP she heard gunshots at about 6 a.m. on the morning of the ICE operation and her husband saw four men being arrested about a block and a half away from her home on Adamson Avenue and Ludell Street.
“It’s scary,” said Garcia about the weapons seized and the arrests, “when my grandchildren go to school and walk by there.”
She feels safer now that the arrests have been made, she said.
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October 1, 2009 Copyright © 2009 Eastern Group Publications, Inc.
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