49 still at large in Hawaiian Gardens gang bust
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HAWAIIAN GARDENS - Among the 147 Hawaiian Gardens gang members and associates named in five separate federal indictments, some 49 remained at large Friday, authorities confirmed.
The search, however, will continue, federal and local authorities vowed.
"Operation Knockout has led to federal indictments against 147 gang members, making it the largest gang sweep in U.S. history," United States Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said Thursday when the indictments were unsealed and the results of the pre-dawn raid were shared with media.
During Thursday's operation, a total of 88 defendants were arrested on federal and state charges. Of the 88 arrests, 63 were identified in one of five federal indictments.
With 35 defendants already in custody, there are now 98 people ready to be prosecuted in federal court and, if convicted, who will serve at least 85percent of their terms scattered among 118 federal facilities across the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The remaining 49 defendants named in the federal indictments are either fugitives being sought by authorities or individuals who investigators are working to identify and additional arrests are expected in this case, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Some of those being sought are
The indictments and subsequent roundup in Hawaiian Gardens - which included 1,400 law enforcement members from federal, state and local jurisdictions - were the culmination of almost four years of investigation into the tiny town's oldest and most notorious gang, authorities said.
Varrio Hawaiian Gardens waged a racist campaign to eliminate black people from the community through attempted murders and other crimes, according to the federal racketeering indictments unsealed Thursday.
Well now we don’t have to close Gitmo! We’ll just sent these scum down there.