The alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang are accused of targeting food truck operators in the Hollywood area over the last five years.
At least 20 reputed members of one of Los Angeles’ most notorious gangs have been indicted in connection with a violent extortion racket that targeted food-truck operators in the Hollywood area over at least five years, according to state grand jury records unsealed Monday in a downtown courtroom.
The 20 defendants — including four women — named in indictments returned Jan. 28 are allegedly tied to Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. The individuals, charged with extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion, are all being held on bail ranging from $2 million to just more than $3 million.
At least five other individuals are also under indictment but were not named because details in the grand jury indictments against them remain sealed, authorities said. It was not clear what sentences the defendants could face.
The victims of the alleged organized shakedown were not the popular four-wheeled foodie cuisine servers but those serving blue-collar workers at construction sites, according to several law enforcement sources familiar with the case.
Most of the arrests took place early Thursday within the LAPD’s Hollywood Patrol Division and were the culmination of a yearlong investigation involving more than 200 officers that yielded weapons and narcotics, the sources said.
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