Agencies Arrest 60 in Crackdown on Asian Gangs : Crime: A joint federal, state and local task force spent 20 months tracking members, and the operation continues.

After 20 months of undercover operations, a combined federal, state and local task force on Asian gangs in Orange County has arrested about 60 people, and the crackdown will continue, officials announced Thursday.

Gang members have been arrested on a variety of charges, ranging from murder to illegal possession of firearms. Officials said the use of federal firearms laws proved especially helpful in making arrests of gang suspects, many of whom travel throughout the United States and Canada but are based in Orange County.

Names of the suspects and details of the crimes were not released.

The lead federal agency in the task force is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Los Angeles ATF division head George A. Rodriguez said the Asian gangs are particularly pernicious because they primarily prey on new immigrants who “are afraid to assist police in solving the crimes.”

The Garden Grove Police Department and ATF began the joint task force in February, 1991. Later, the Santa Ana Police Department, the California Department of Justice, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service joined the effort.

“We (in Garden Grove) became the lead local agency because a lot of the gang members were either residing in Garden Grove or frequented our cafes and restaurants,” said Garden Grove Police Investigator Al Butler.

Butler, who heads Garden Grove’s gang intelligence unit, said that about 13 Asian gangs are based in that city. He estimated that 20 other Asian gangs are based in other parts of Orange County “and visit Garden Grove on a frequent basis.”

Both Garden Grove and Santa Ana officials praised the task force’s work.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters said: “The combination of our respective agencies’ expertise and resources facilitated this broad, long-term attack on the criminal element. Whenever a violent criminal is removed from the streets, the whole community benefits. The tough federal laws that this task force avails to us do just that. I look forward to continuing the Santa Ana Police Department’s participation in this task force.”

Officials said the Asian gang members are primarily immigrants from Vietnam or China. And they almost exclusively target their own ethnic groups, officials said.

“Their crimes, such as home invasions and residential burglaries, are usually well-planned conspiracies against Asian immigrants who do not understand the American banking and judicial systems,” said Rodriguez. “Their victims keep large sums of money and valuables in their homes. . . . The gangs know this and will exploit their victims’ cultural apprehensions.

“Gang members will plan a home invasion or burglary in much the same way the police will plan a search-warrant execution. They gather intelligence, conduct surveillance and plan the actual invasion of the house. Firearms are used to intimidate, threaten and even kill their victims.”

Special Agent John D’Angelo, a spokesman for the ATF, said that the federal agency focused on the gangs’ illegal firearms. Many of the weapons were stolen, he said. “Often, the homes invaded by the gangs have firearms as well as money, and the gangs steal the firearms,” D’Angelo said.

D’Angelo declined to give specifics on how task force members infiltrated the gangs. He noted that the task force work continues and that undercover agents will still be getting evidence to prosecute more gang members.

Some of the Asian gang members are not U.S. citizens, and illegal immigrants are deported after being convicted, according to task force officials. Police experts on Asian gangs in Orange County have said that deportation is the single most effective tool in breaking up the gangs.

Robert M. Moschorak, Los Angeles district director of the INS, said: “We participate fully through efforts aimed at reducing gang-related crimes committed by illegal aliens. . . . Our violent gang task force operations, both in Los Angeles and Orange counties, have made it a priority to apprehend those aliens involved in organized crime activities and other aliens involved in criminal activity.”