Authorities in central California have announced more than two dozen arrests following a gang crackdown that was conducted after a “cartel-style execution” in January.
The killings involved six victims, including a teenage mother and her baby, and are believed to have resulted from a gang rivalry. The four-day sweep, named “Operation Nightmare,” led to the arrests of 26 individuals on various charges, and officials reported that a total of 97 homes and 23 prison cells were searched.
The crackdown began in early February when the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office arrested two suspects in the Jan. 16 killings at a home in rural Goshen, a community of about 3,000 people in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley.
Angel Uriarte, 35, and Noah David Beard, 25, have each pleaded not guilty to charges, including six counts of murder, and detectives believe that Uriarte has ties to a California prison gang.
At least 17 law enforcement agencies participated in the recent sweep, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local police departments.
The operation’s focus was to conduct probation and parole compliance checks and arrest warrant services on known gang members throughout Tulare County, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
At least 18 arrest warrants were served, including nine on Friday in the Visalia and Goshen areas. Officials said that deputies uncovered methamphetamine, cocaine, and several weapons, and that the sheriff’s department posted several images of the alleged seized items on social media.
Officials also said that they discovered an “illegal firearm manufacturing operation” in which gang members make and sell untraceable firearms.
The fatal shootings of six people in Goshen in January were part of a violent and deadly month in California. On Jan. 21, a shooting at a Monterey Park dance hall killed 11 and wounded nine.
The gunman later killed himself. On Jan. 23, shootings at two Half Moon Bay farms killed seven people and wounded one before a suspect was arrested.
»Over 20 people arrested in murder of 6 people, including a teenage mother and her baby«
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