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Combined array of law enforcement officials crack down on prison gang Nuestra Familia
Assistant Sheriff Robert Thayer, subbing for Kings County’s top law enforcement official Sheriff David Robinson, told reporters in a Wednesday press conference that “Operation Red Reaper,” a massive sweep carried out the day before (June 18), arrested 96 members and associates of the prison gang Nuestra Familia and seized 11 pounds of methamphetamine and 74 firearms, including 14 automatic weapons.
Included in the array of law enforcement officials were Lemoore Chief of Police Darrel Smith, and city police chiefs and other law enforcement officials from Kings and Tulare counties. Kings County District Attorney Keith Fagundes was on hand as were representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
Lemoore's chief, Smith didn't speak on Wednesday, but he told The Leader that this week's investigation made communities like Lemoore safer. "As a result of the lengthy investigation that resulted in nearly 100 state and federal arrests of Nuestra Familia gang members, our communities in Kings and Tulare counties are safer because of the tireless efforts of all those involved in this investigation," he said. "Although the challenges of locking up dangerous gang members never end, with this operation we are able to bring a sense of peace to neighborhoods in our city that are impacted by gang violence. The Lemoore Police Department's highest priority is and always will be to keeping our community safe."
Other agencies involved in the massive sweep were the Kings County Major Crimes Task Force, California Department of Justice, and the Tulare Area Gang Narcotic Enforcement team. The combined forces spent nearly six months investigating the prison gang Nuestra Familia as part of the widespread crackdown on gang activity in the two neighboring counties.
The multitude of suspects, according to law enforcement officials, were involved in murder, drug trafficking, drug manufacturing, possession of illegal weapons, and extortion. Amazingly, the top leaders of Nuestra Familia were running the massive operation from their confinement in Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
Law enforcement officials say suspects Salvador Castro, Jr. and Raymond Lopez, both serving time in Pleasant Valley, used contraband cell phones from the prison to move narcotics from drug sources in California and Mexico to a stash house in Kings County.
In the news conference held Wednesday in Hanford, and broadcast on Facebook, Thayer opened the meeting with a rundown of the half-year investigation. “This is a dangerous street gang that has infiltrated our community,” said the Kings County assistant sheriff.
“These gangs are sophisticated and dangerous,” said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, also in attendance at Wednesday’s press conference. “This is an incredibly sophisticated crime organization. We are fighting for the good cause.”
Also arrested were Jose Quintero and Freddie Quair, a pair of gang members suspected of involvement in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday morning, the day before. Officers arrested the two while serving arrest warrants as part of Operation Red Reaper after responding to the report of a home invasion in Corcoran where they found one suspect shot. The deputies arrested Quintero and Quair as suspects in the home invitation at a traffic stop some time later.
According to Assistant Sheriff Thayer, were forced to open fire, injuring Quintero and Quair.
Assistant U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said during the press conference that the leadership, housed in Pleasant Valley State Prison, is suspected of masterminding the entire operation. “The senior leadership (used cell phones from within prison) to communicate with their members on the street,” he said. “That is simply astounding.”
He also said this is not a new takedown. “This is the third time in the last decade that we got together as a law enforcement team to take out the Nuestra Familia.”
Recently, federal, state and local officials also arrested numerous suspects involved with the Aryan Brotherhood.
