Jorge Gonzalez, leader of the 18th Street Gang, is currently serving a life sentence in a California state prison for a murder he committed in 1980. Yet, court records indicate that Gonzalez continued to direct the gang’s activities and operations from prison through communication with his wife, Keiko Gonzalez, whose arrest was announced Thursday, March 5.
Federal authorities announced the arrest of 12 members and associates from the 18th Street gang, after unsealing federal indictments charging 14 defendants with crimes including murder, extortion, racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, CA.
DRUGS, GUNS, CASH AND MORE SEIZED IN LA 18TH STREET GANG TAKEDOWN THIS MORNING
ICE @HSILosAngeles assisted the @FBI, @LAPDHQ and other partners in executing several search and arrest warrants this morning that included the arrests of gang members. pic.twitter.com/UA84n0lnUo
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) March 5, 2026
The operation, dubbed “Operation Dead Horse,” targeted a Mexican Mafia-affiliated clique of the gang that prosecutors say controlled MacArthur Park as an “open-air drug marketplace.” Gang members allegedly used tents to blend in with the park’s homeless population while dealing fentanyl, methamphetamine and other narcotics.
They also extorted “taxes” or “rents” from other drug dealers and operated illegal gambling venues known as “casitas,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. However, the main indictment charges seven defendants with racketeering conspiracy, and the murder of a female drug trafficker identified in federal court documents only by the initials “M.Z.”
🚨OPERATION DEAD HORSE: Yesterday, @USAO_LosAngeles announced the arrests of 12 members and associates of the 18th Street Gang – L.A.’s largest street gang – on charges alleging murder, extortion, and drug trafficking tied to the MacArthur Park Area.
“For far too long, 18th… pic.twitter.com/qPvMeFr7ZN
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) March 6, 2026
Prosecutors allege that Keiko Marie Gonzalez, 59, also known as “Moms” or “La Reina,” served as the street boss and ordered the 2022 murder of M.Z, who refused to pay her extortionate taxes while operating in the gang’s territory around MacArthur Park.
Gonzalez allegedly received the orders from her husband, Jorge Gonzales, a Mexican Mafia member held in a California state prison. George Carillo and Carlos Beltran face additional murder in aid of racketeering charges in connection with the killing.
According to the indictment, 18th Street is historically a Mexican-American street gang that has grown into a transnational gang with more than 100,000 members within the United States, and operates across Mexico, Central and South America, and elsewhere. 18th Street controls numerous neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, including MacArthur Park and its surrounding blocks.
“MacArthur Park served as an open-air marketplace for drug trafficking by 18th Streeters, many of whom operated within tents to conceal the nature of their drug trafficking and to avoid law enforcement detection,” the indictment alleges. “18th Street also controlled a substantial portion of the drug trafficking activities in the Skid Row area of Downtown Los Angeles.”
The arrests followed execution of multiple search warrants across the district, with agents seizing cash, firearms and suspected narcotics.
“Gang criminals and drug peddlers have been exploiting the MacArthur Park community for far too long,” said Anthony Chrysanthis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division. “18th Street has been moving product in MacArthur Park at will. The collaborative work poured into this multi-agency operation is a testament to our resolve to turn the tide. We want to return MacArthur Park back to the community.”
