POLICE SERVE WARRANTS IN BATTLE AGAINST MEXICAN MAFIA

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- More than 100 police officers served search
warrants in the Inland Empire in an attempt to thwart drug trafficking by
the prison-based Mexican Mafia.

The raids were carried out early Tuesday morning in Rialto, Perris, Rancho
Cucamonga, San Bernardino and Colton, said Michael Meyers, the Rialto
police chief.

"This area is not going to tolerate gangs and drugs," Meyers said during a
press conference after the raids. "We're not going to sit back and watch
the Mexican Mafia or anyone else take over our streets."

The raids followed a four-month investigation, led by Rialto police, that
found an increasing mob influence in Riverside and San Bernardino counties,
said Leo Duarte, a special agent with the California Department of Corrections.

"In the eyes of the Mexican Mafia, the Inland Empire is virgin territory,"
said Duarte, a specialist in prison-based gangs. "They see there is money
to be made here."

An organizational chart with the suspected hierarchy of local Mexican Mafia
affiliates was put on display. At the top of the chart was Antonio
Hernandez, who was arrested Tuesday for investigation of drug and weapons
possession.

Hernandez has been involved with the Mexican Mafia for more than a dozen
years and is believed to have connections with drug cartels in Mexico,
officials said.

Hernandez likely is not an official member of the mob, but is probably an
associate who pays the organization proceeds to deal drugs with the group's
permission, police said.

The other 10 men arrested were booked on a variety of crimes and parole
violations, authorities said. Some of the men are known associates of the
Mexican Mafia and others are members of the Black Angels gang, an
Ontario-based affiliate of the Mexican Mafia.

Several guns and an unknown amount of drugs were seized in the raids.