Dozens of gang members who allegedly “terrorized” South Los Angeles through violence and criminal acts were indicted by a federal grand jury, federal and local officials announced Tuesday.
The 37 alleged members and associates of the "Florencia 13" street gang, which operated within the 3-square-mile area of the Florence-Firestone neighborhood, are accused of committing at least three murders, assaults, armed robbery, extortions as well as drug trafficking.
The number 13 in the gang’s name signals its affiliation with the Mexican Mafia, a powerful prison gang, the U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said.
“Many of the members and leaders of this gang are imprisoned. But the gang cannot operate and cannot function without the members on the outside. Those are the people who follow the orders to commit murders and assaults. Those are the people who raise money for the gang through the extortions, the robberies, and the sales of drugs,” Estrada said, explaining the latest indictments targeted the leadership of the gang outside the prison system.
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In one of the murders, some of the gang members assaulted a man outside a bar in the Florence-Firestone area in October 2020, ultimately beating him to death with a baseball bat, Estrada alleged.
Three men convicted of murdering LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos in 2022 were also members of "Florencia 13."
Of those 37 defendants, six are already incarcerated while 23 were arrested between Monday and Tuesday. Eight of them are considered fugitives with some of them being in Mexico.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, whose department oversees the Florence-Firestone and other South LA areas, said the indicted gang members have been “routinely” victimizing the very neighborhoods they claim to protect.
“These individuals that are going to be going to federal prison – after they're found guilty, of course – are going to spend countless nights wishing that they were out with their friends, their parents, doing fun things that maybe some others did,” Luna said while urging other young people to resist the temptation to enjoy street gangs such as Florence 13.
“Don't do it. Don't get involved in it. It impacts your families, and it will impact your life,” Luna said.
