The FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department arrested 28 people in Boyle Heights who are allegedly part of a South Los Angeles gang, the Eastside Playboys, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
The suspects were arrested on federal racketeering, narcotics and firearms charges. Grand jury indictments that led to the arrests also allege extortion of local businesses, the statement said.
The 28 people arrested are allegedly among the "41 members and associates of the gang named across the six indictments."
Three other people are already in custody, the DOJ said, and authorities are searching for the remaining 10 gang members.
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FBI agents, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies and Los Angeles Police Department officers were seen in Boyle Heights early Thursday morning, for the operation involving "dozens of federal arrest and search warrants," an FBI spokesperson told NBC4.
Roughly "47 firearms, 199 kilograms of methamphetamine, 13.6 kilograms of fentanyl, 27 kilograms of cocaine, 7.6 kilograms of heroin, 283 kilograms of marijuana, and $140,000 in cash" were taken from the scene of the operation.
Two unlicensed marijuana dispenseries are also allegedly related to the gang's activities.
The investigation into the gang began four years ago, according to the statement, with the FBI and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs conducting surveillance to uncover evidence of the gang's activities.
Those alleged activities included "extortion of businesses, violent robberies, burglaries, narcotics and firearms trafficking, and violence against their own members as “discipline” for violating gang rules and norms," according to the statement, among other crimes.
