The San Diego Police Department and the FBI arrested seven accused gang members and seized drugs and weapons from a so-called stash house in Encanto, which was the focal point of "Operation Scrapbusters."
Six men and a woman with ties to the Mexican Mafia were taken into custody, accused of selling drugs out of the house on Wunderlin Avenue near 68th Street, and using it to store weapons, cash and drugs. More than a dozen weapons, including two explosive devices, were seized from the home, according to local and federal agents.
Pictures of seized items include pistols, shotguns, rifles, knives, a sword, a saw, a bullet-proof vest, a variety of drugs and $27,000 in cash. Investigators also discovered evidence of kidnappings and extortion, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said during a Tuesday morning news conference touting the success of the operation.
The gang members operating out of the home were apparently being controlled by a boss far away.
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"What is disturbing is that the key leader of the Mexican Mafia had his tentacles in this particular criminal organization and was doing it from death row in prison," District Attorney Summer Stephan said.
The leader's name is Ronnie Ayala, according to Stephan, and he landed on death row for killing three men execution-style in southeastern San Diego.
"We will relentlessly pursue justice against those who terrorize our neighborhoods with gang violence, guns, and the scourge of fentanyl," Randy Grossman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, said.
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Six of the defendants were arraigned last week and the seventh is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.
