Photo: JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP / Getty Images
By: The Opinion Updated 35 Dec 2022, 12: 54 pm EST
Following a three-month investigation in southeast San Diego, charges were filed against five men and one woman who authorities say Planned violent crimes, sold drugs under the direction of the Mexican Mafia prison gang.
According to San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit, the defendants used a house in the Latino neighborhood of Encanto to sell drugs, store weapons and plan violent crimes, including kidnappings .
The defendants were arrested last week in San Diego and National City. Three of them, Rafael Castro, 39 years old, Samuel Díaz, of 39, and Daniela Wilson, of 41, were indicted in the San Diego Superior Court for kidnapping for extortion purposes. According to a criminal complaint, the abduction occurred in early October, but no further details are available.
The prosecutor of San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan called the case “unique” as evidence revealed a direct link to the Mexican Mafia, a group that runs several street gangs from jail.
Ronaldo Ayala, an inmate convicted of the deaths of three people who ran a heroin distribution business in 2015, directed from the jail the actions of the criminal group of the house in the Encanto neighborhood, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Ayala used cell phones in prison to give orders to people abroad, the prosecution says. The convicted man was not charged in the case because he is on death row.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement recovered nine assault rifles, six pistols, more than 1 500 rounds of ammunition, two explosive devices, drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine pills, 2 1200 dollars in cash and two stolen vehicles.
A seventh suspect was also arrested last week. Prosecutors are reviewing the evidence for possible criminal charges against that person.
The Mexican Mafia is made up of heads of various street gangs and operates mostly from within California jails and prisons. The bosses order their subordinates to collect a “tax” for drug trafficking or kill those who oppose or resist them.
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