Sweep Targets Santa Ana Gang : Crime: With indictments from secret grand jury, task force begins arresting 130 on charges of dealing drugs in a neighborhood police say has been terrorized by violence.

Armed with sealed indictments from a secretly impaneled Orange County Grand Jury, a special task force of law enforcement officers swooped down Wednesday on a Santa Ana neighborhood gripped by rampant crime and hard-core gang activity to begin arresting 130 people accused of dealing drugs.

The arrests capped a five-month undercover investigation by various local and federal agencies, which persuaded the grand jury to indict 130 suspected gang members and associates--the youngest a 12-year-old boy--on a host of criminal charges, many involving the sale of illegal drugs near five of the city’s public schools.

Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters, whose officers headed the operation, said the crackdown ends a reign of neighborhood terror by the 6th Street gang.

“We’re taking a truly violent organization out of commission,” said Walters, who was flanked at a press conference by Gov. Pete Wilson, who was campaigning in the area, and Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, as well as the local head of the FBI.

“Numerous members of this gang are responsible for violent felonies, and many have been arrested. But few are convicted due to the gang’s intimidation of witnesses,” the chief said.

The massive “Operation Roundup,” involving officers from eight different agencies, allowed authorities to jail most of the gang’s members in one fell swoop. Walters said routine narcotics operations arrest only a few suspects at a time, allowing others to simply take their places selling drugs on the streets.

Charlie Parsons, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, which took part in the operation, said the investigation’s successful outcome was largely attributable to a handful of undercover agents who gained the confidence of neighborhood drug dealers and made videotaped purchases of cocaine and heroin.

About 28 of the people arrested Wednesday belong to the 6th Street gang, which boasts about 45 hard-core members, officials said. The remaining defendants are gang associates, they said.

Capizzi said the arrests of two-thirds of its membership effectively gutted the gang, which claimed the 1000 and 1100 blocks of West 3rd Street as the core of its turf.

“The 6th Street gang has been busted in every sense of the word,” Capizzi said.

The arrests began at daylight Wednesday and were expected to continue until all 130 defendants were in custody. The defendants are to be arraigned later this week in Orange County Superior Court and are being held in lieu of bail ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.

More than 260 law enforcement agents took part in the roundup, including officers from the Santa Ana Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s and Probation departments, the FBI and other agencies.

The adult suspects were indicted on felony charges of possessing heroin, crack cocaine or powdered cocaine for sale, and face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Five of the defendants, who have two or more prior convictions involving serious or violent felonies, will face 25 years to life in prison under the state’s new “three strikes” law if convicted of the charges against them.

The indictments of 15 others trigger second-strike allegations that could add as much as 10 years to their prison sentences, and at least 25 others face prison terms enhanced by as much as five additional years for dealing drugs near the following schools: Pio Pico Elementary, Lowell Elementary, Kennedy Elementary, Willard Intermediate and Santa Ana High.

And 29 more face tougher sentences if convicted of selling the drugs to further criminal conduct of the gang.

Perhaps the most surprising disclosure was the indictment of a youngster named Tony, who was observed by narcotics agents selling cocaine both day and night. Law enforcement veterans said they were not surprised at his involvement in the drug trade, but were nonetheless touched and saddened. Among a handful of juveniles arrested, Tony was the youngest.

Tony should have spent today back in class after summer vacation, starting seventh grade at Willard Intermediate School. Instead he is in Juvenile Hall, said his 17-year-old sister.

“From the way he looked, it was clear he was only 12 years old,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joseph P. Smith. “Since he was so young, we wanted to pick him up just to help him. I know that sounds corny, but I think that of all the people we picked up, maybe there is some hope for redemption here.”

While undercover narcotics agents were documenting the activities of the 12-year-old, Smith said, officers feared for the child’s safety since he was selling directly to “dangerous addicts.”

“He reacted like any 12-year-old kid would,” Smith said. “He told us everything. He possessed a certain amount of street smarts, but he was clearly just a 12-year-old boy.”

In some cases, Smith said, cocaine, heroin and crack were more accessible to local residents than groceries or disposable diapers.

“In this neighborhood, you would find the stores closing sometime after dark, but the drugs were always available,” the prosecutor said.

“Basically, what we’re talking about here is a 24-hour-per-day operation,” Smith said. “I don’t think we ever went into that neighborhood when drugs were not available. It was an entrenched marketplace for drug sales.”

Walters said the investigation started five months ago, after officers began monitoring street drug sales from atop a parking garage attached to the Hutton Towers building at Flower and Santa Ana Boulevard.

In contrast to the youthful Tony, one of those arrested Wednesday had a rap sheet listing arrests dating back to the late 1970s, including several arrests and convictions for assault and burglary--even crimes committed while in prison.

Pointing to an enlarged version of the man’s rap sheet, Gov. Wilson said, “This is a tragedy waiting to happen.” The governor added that the arrested man should have been sentenced to life in prison many years ago but was not because of “idiotic rules.”

Wilson had been campaigning in the Southland and said he was invited to attend the press conference, which gave him the opportunity to do some boasting about laws enacted during his term to punish repeat criminals.

He said defendants arrested on drug charges today are treated much more harshly than just a few years ago, and noted that earlier this year he signed into law the “three strikes” legislation that mandates life sentences for individuals with two prior convictions for serious or violent felonies upon conviction of any third felony.

“It’s proof California is changing” for the better, Wilson said. “Hopefully, we will remove them from the street for as long as we possibly can,” he said of the defendants arrested Wednesday.

While many hailed the success of the operation as a multi-agency effort to fight troubling gang activity and crime in Orange County, others questioned whether precious resources were spent on seeking routine charges.

Police officials said the most serious charges involve terrorist activity by the gang members, as well as drug possession and sales. No special prosecutor has been assigned to handle the cases, sources said.

“When was the last time Pete Wilson was worried about gangs in Santa Ana?” asked one Orange County official.

Wilson’s appearance at the press conference also rankled staffers of Democratic gubernatorial challenger Kathleen Brown.

Brown campaign staff member Mike Rice said, “Pete Wilson should check his budget before he goes and blows his own horn,” adding that the governor has cut $396,000 from the state’s Gang Violence Suppression Program since taking office in 1990. The budget for the program this year is about $5.1 million.

Capizzi said the operation actually saved more than $200,000 because the indictment process precludes the need for lengthy preliminary hearings in court.

Parsons said he expects the operation to be duplicated elsewhere and that in fact it saved millions, considering other crimes the defendants would be committing if they remained on the streets.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Armbrust said the roundup was about making streets safe for Santa Ana residents.

“The intention is to cripple, severely cripple or annihilate this particular gang claiming this turf in Santa Ana and terrorizing neighborhoods,” Armbrust said. “People are afraid for their lives, being held captive in their homes.”

* ‘ALWAYS AFRAID’: Neighborhood residents hope to live in peace. A21

* KNOWN TO BE BAD: The 6th Street gang is called tops in committing crimes. A21

Drug Gangs Targeted

More than 130 people were indicted on drug charges Wednesday in Phase I of “Operation Roundup,” a five-month undercover effort to rid several Santa Ana neighborhoods of drugs and rampant gang crime.

The Roundup

* 25 to be charged with selling near schools.

* 19 have prior drug convictions.

* Five eligible for life terms under “three-strikes” law.

* Ages range from 12 to 44.

* Average age is 18.

Sources: Santa Ana Police Department, Orange County district attorney

Researched by KEVIN JOHNSON/Los Angeles Times