Police: Suspects passed messages to kill others
Thursday, December 18, 2003 -
AZUSA -- Police arrested four women Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and rounded up six parole and probation violators in an effort to subdue the Azusa 13 gang.
More than 60 law enforcement agents from 10 local, state and federal agencies swept through Azusa, Pomona, Covina and unincorporated areas trying to stem a recent rise in crimes attributed to the gang.
Caught in the morning raids were four women who allegedly carried marching orders from senior Azusa 13 gang members now in prison to other gang members on the street, said Azusa police Capt. Sam Gonzalez.
Those orders were to kill rival gang members and others, he said.
"There's potentially multiple victims,' Gonzalez said.
The arrests followed a months- long wiretapping investigation by the California Department of Justice and Azusa police in which investigators secretly listened to the women's telephone conversations, Gonzalez said.
Arrested for alleged conspiracy to commit murder were Mayra Salazar, 18, of Azusa; Olga Salazar, 23, of Covina; and Fabiola Marquez, 26, of Pomona.
A fourth suspect, Michelle Agguirre, 28, of Azusa, turned herself in to Azusa police Thursday afternoon.
The four are being held on $1 million bail each in Azusa jail.
"They were helping coordinate (the gang's) criminal efforts,' Gonzalez said.
Also arrested for alleged parole or probation violations were: Gilbert Rodarte, 23; Mario Bustamante, 26; Robert Ramirez, 23; David Moriarity, 26; Salvador Zapata, 23; and a 13-year-old boy.
All are allegedly Azusa 13 gang members and are being held without bail.
Officers from the Azusa, Baldwin Park, Irwindale, West Covina, Glendora, Covina, El Monte, Pomona and Monrovia police departments teamed with parole agents from the California Department of Corrections and Los Angeles County probation officers and sheriff's deputies. They also had help from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The gang commits crimes in most San Gabriel Valley cities, Gonzalez said.
At one home in the 200 block of Soldano Avenue, parole agent Ray Duran discovered a small measuring scale possibly to weigh drug portions and turned up the heat on the residents, one of whom was a parolee.
"This stuff makes me pissed off,' Duran told the residents. "We keep coming back and coming back. You shouldn't have stuff like this in your home.'
The repeated sweeps of paroled gang members' homes is an effort to crush Azusa 13, said Azusa police Chief King Davis.
"Our tactic now is to not even give them a chance to recover,' Davis said. "We hit them from all different angles all the time.'
Gonzalez also released the results of an investigation into Azusa 13's alleged drug dealing activities.
The investigation began in July and was conducted by Azusa and Irwindale police with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Police made 35 arrests during the three-month-long investigation and seized more than 10 pounds of illegal drugs, five guns and $6,600 in cash. The investigation will continue next year.
-- Jason Kosareff can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2717, or by e-mail at jason.kosareff@sgvn.com.
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