130 detained at illegal gambling ‘casitas’ In SoCal, FBI says – NBC Los Angeles

Federal authorities and local law enforcement agencies have teamed up for 36 joint operations, resulting in over 200 arrests and the seizure of a massive amount of drugs, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) announced Monday.

The FBI’s Los Angeles office said it added more resources for Operation Coast to Coast in the month of December. The operation, which is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative following an executive order by President Donald Trump, aims to eliminate “criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad,” according to the FBI.

During the operation, 92 criminal complaints were filed after 223 people were arrested in the Los Angeles area, the FBI said. After executing eight search warrants, including one in Mexico, agents confiscated over 102 kilograms of fentanyl, 470 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, as well as 29 firearms. 

About $3,000 in cash was also seized, the FBI said. 

Among the organizations targeted in Operation Coast to Coast, illegal gambling establishments or “casitas” were operated by LA-area gangs to sell narcotics while prostitution and firearms trafficking were conducted. The FBI said more than 130 people were detained at casitas across LA.

Such casitas were also searched in Montclair and San Bernardino.

In Long Beach, some alleged members of various street gangs, including Florencia-13, Tortilla Flags, East Side Longos were also arrested for drug trafficking and firearms violations. At least one man was arrested for distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to the FBI.

The FBI said the Los Angeles Police Department, LA County Sheriff’s Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department are among the local agencies that partnered with the federal officials for Operation Coast to Coast.