Attorney General Brown's Office Announces Yuba City Gang Takedown

Thursday, November 13, 2008
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

YUBA CITY— California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced today that officers from the Attorney General’s Office, Yuba County Sheriff’s Department and Sutter County Gang Task Force conducted “Operation Showdown” and arrested 25 people for gang activity, drug trafficking and illegal gun sales.

“Tragically, gang activity is deeply embedded in many communities and is spreading throughout rural California,” said Attorney General Brown. “Despite the state’s budget crisis, I intend to do everything I can to help local police and sheriffs curb the escalating gang violence plaguing our state.”

During Operation Showdown, undercover officers infiltrated drug-trafficking groups involved in the distribution of drugs and the illegal sale and transfer of firearms. During a three-month period, undercover officers made more than 50 drug buys and 5 gun buys from 42 people, including 8 gang members, 13 gang associates and 5 parolees. The undercover officers purchased more than 300 grams of methamphetamine and were also able to purchase heroin, marijuana and 8 guns, including 2 assault weapons. Three of the guns purchased in the operation were stolen in a burglary in Yuba County.

Operation Showdown led to the arrest of 25 suspects, including 6 gang members and 8 gang associates. Agents seized more than 3,500 grams (almost 6 pounds) of methamphetamine, 18,000 grams (42 pounds) of marijuana, 21 guns, heroin and more than $101,000 in cash. One of the search warrants yielded 186 gigantic marijuana plants capable of producing up to 8 pounds of marijuana buds per plant.

The Attorney General’s Office assists local law enforcement when severe gang problems cross jurisdictional boundaries. State narcotics agents have recently shut down a Norteño street gang and a violent Cambodian street gang in Stockton, a Sureño gang in Atwater and the Varrio Central Poros, a brutal criminal street gang that terrorized the City of Porterville for years. Brown’s special agents have also participated in recent crime crackdowns in East Palo Alto, Oakland, and Compton.

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