RAIDS TARGET VIOLENT VALLEY GANG

Touting their effort to crack down on a violent San Fernando Valley
street gang linked to the slaying of a Burbank police officer,
authorities announced Tuesday the arrests of nearly two dozen people
whom they said were "associates" of the Vineland Boyz gang.

But after the news conference at which the arrests were announced,
several law enforcement officials close to the case said the success
of the operation had been overstated and disputed the number of
suspects who actually had ties to the street gang.

Briane Grey, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration,
said only one of the 22 people arrested in the predawn raid has any
known connection to the gang.

Linking the others to the Vineland Boyz "would be a stretch," Grey
said. He characterized the suspects as "a cell of mid-level drug dealers."

"These were not Vineland Boyz," said another federal law enforcement
source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They're just drug dealers."

A third federal official, who also asked not to be named because he
is involved in a continuing criminal investigation of the gang, said
as many as four suspects had some ties to the Vineland Boyz because
they either communicated with known members or supplied them drugs.

A press release by the multi-agency task force investigating the gang
had described the case in far more sweeping terms: "21 members of San
Fernando Valley Street Gang Named in Second Federal Indictment," the
release stated. "Vineland Boys Street Gang Dismantling Continues in
Massive Police Action."

Authorities have been arresting and pursuing members of the Vineland
Boyz for more than a year and a half since the killing of Mathew
Pavelka, a rookie Burbank police officer, in November 2003. David
Garcia, whom police have described as a member of the gang, was
arrested a few days after the killing and has been charged with the murder.

Authorities say the Vineland Boyz evolved from a tight-knit group of
friends on a high school football team in the late 1980s to one of
the San Fernando Valley's most violent and highly organized gangs.
Unlike many street gangs, Vineland Boyz operates like a business,
trafficking in narcotics and high-end illegal weapons, according to a
federal indictment made public last month after raids that netted 36
reputed gang members. Members of the gang are also known for dressing
sharply, shunning the typical clothes associated with other gangs
throughout Los Angeles.

The gang absorbed several other street gangs, forged an alliance with
the Mexican Mafia to boost its narcotics trade, and controlled drug
traffic in large areas of the San Fernando Valley and Burbank,
authorities said.

The press release issued by law enforcement agencies Tuesday
described the early morning raid as a continuation of the effort to
dismantle the gang. According to the release, 600 police officers and
federal agents fanned out across the San Fernando Valley, executing
search warrants at 17 locations and visiting four others.

LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon, who wrote the press release for the task force,
said he was told that those arrested in the sweep Tuesday were
"affiliates" of the Vineland Boyz. He said he was unaware there was
little evidence linking the suspects to the gang.

"If they are not directly involved, I'll accept that," Vernon said.

He said all the agencies involved in the operation read the press
release and signed off on it.

Dubbed "Operation Swift Intruder," Tuesday's raid was a follow-up to
last month's "Operation Silent Night" which targeted reputed Vineland
Boyz members who had been indicted on federal racketeering charges.

Both raids, law enforcement officials said, dealt serious blows to the gang.

"The arrests today are a continuation of our pledge to put a violent
street gang out of business," LAPD Chief William J. Bratton said in a
prepared statement. "Yes, this is a labor intensive, expensive
endeavor, but consider the cost of gang crime in loss of lives,
property, and the added cost for the tax payers in public safety."

At a meeting of the Burbank city council Tuesday night, that city's
police chief, Thomas Hoefel, said the raid targeted the narcotics
wing of the gang's organization. "Clearly, we sent the message: If
you know or are associated with the Vineland Boyz, you can't hide,"
Hoefel said.

* Times staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this article.