Officers Swarm South LA in Gang Crackdown
AP
If convicted, Barron faces as much as 14 years and 10 months in prison.
More than 45 people had been arrested by 7 a.m. Thursday in a major gang crackdown in South LA.
Hundreds of police officers and federal agents served warrants on the Rolling 40s. The gang has a "vice grip" on the neighborhood, according to police.
Authorities said the operation involves about 1,100 law enforcement agents. They plan to serve warrants for 75 individuals.
Authorities set up a booking area in a parking lot in Exposition Park.
"They have a vise grip on the neighborhood, and we are going to release that grip this morning," LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said.
The operation is part of a 16-month investigation.
Neighborhoods in which the warrants were served included Crenshaw, Jefferson Park, West Adams, Baldwin Village, University Park, Athens Park, Gramercy Park and Hyde Park.
Families get to raise their children, send the kids to school, without as much fear involving this particular street gang. ... The communities are held hostage, in a sense," Albanese said.
The FBI's Laura Eimiller said more than 500 people have been arrested since May in 10 Southern California anti-gang sweeps.
The sweep occurred during nationwide raids against a Mexico-based drug cartel. Eimiller said the LA raids are not related.
