Federal and state agents Tuesday arrested 10 of 11 suspected Colorado members of the Mongols motorcycle gang whom they sought as part of a six-state dragnet in which members were indicted for racketeering.
Arrest warrants were issued for 110 gang members nationwide on murder, assault, gun and drug charges. More than 60 were in custody by Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Among those arrested was the gang’s former national president, Ruben Cavazos.
The Colorado suspects were arrested without incident Tuesday morning, according to a news release from Troy Eid, U.S. attorney for Colorado.
Benjamin Maestas, Leonard Martinez, Anthony Shippley, John Bertolucci, Ernest Salas, Edward Montano, Michael Hee, Cary Weinman, Adrian Sisneros and Wayne Ordakowski were arrested across Colorado.
They were charged with drug trafficking, federal firearm violations, wire fraud, witness tampering and trafficking in vehicle parts with obliterated serial numbers.
Ruben Bravo is being sought on the same charges.
In other indictments, authorities charged three more gang members who live in Colorado: Thomas Hernandez, felon in possession; Steven Gonzales, possession of more than 100 marijuana plants; and Victor Muniz, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
“Once again, members of a violent gang face justice in our community, thanks to the (Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and the Metro Gang Task Force,” Eid said in a statement.
In addition to the arrests, agents and officers executed six federal search warrants throughout the Denver area.
After a three-year investigation dubbed “Operation Black Rain,” authorities served 110 federal arrest warrants and 160 search warrants. The raids happened in California, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Ohio.
Four ATF agents infiltrated the gang and were accepted as full members, a difficult process that requires winning the trust of the gang’s top leaders over a period of months, the Associated Press reported.
The Mongols are an outlaw motorcycle gang formed in Montebello, Calif., in the 1970s. There are as many as 600 members nationwide, according to Eid.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
