United States Drug Enforcement Administration

LOS ANGELES – Twelve members and associates of 18th Street – Los Angeles’s largest street gang – were arrested today on criminal charges, including the murder of a drug trafficker who failed to pay the gang’s extortionate “taxes,” and further alleging that the gang controlled the city’s MacArthur Park as an open-air drug marketplace, using tents to blend in with the homeless population and avoid detection by law enforcement.

Five of the defendants arrested today are expected to make their initial appearances and be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

During this investigation, federal and local law enforcement have seized more than 175 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Today, law enforcement seized approximately $80,000 in cash, 10 pounds of fentanyl, five pounds of methamphetamine, and six firearms.

A total of seven federal grand jury indictments have been returned against members and associates of 18th Street. The main federal indictment, which contains seven counts, charges the following seven Los Angeles-based members and associates of 18th Street, with one count of racketeering conspiracy:

• Keiko Marie Gonzalez, 59, a.k.a. “Moms,” “La Señora,” and “La Reina,”
• Edward Escalante, 49, a.k.a. “Toro,”
• Edward Alvarenga, 27, a.k.a. “Tito,”
• George Carillo, 60, a.k.a. “Chuco,”
• Carlos Beltran, 48, a.k.a. “Negro,”
• Felipe De Los Angeles, 51, a.k.a. “Indio,” and
• Edwin Martinez, 32, a.k.a. “Dreamer.”

Law enforcement is looking for six fugitives in this matter. One fugitive is believed to be in Mexico and another is believed to be in Guatemala.

“For far too long, 18th Street and other criminals have been allowed to turn one of the city’s most beautiful public spaces into a crime-infested pit. That ends today,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “We are committed to eliminating violent organized crime and open-air drug markets from Los Angeles.”

“The distribution of illegal narcotics in our communities is unacceptable, as is the associated violent crime that many times affects innocent residents,” said Robert Molvar, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.  “This investigation should send a message to 18th Street Gang members and their Mexican Mafia overlords that we’re going to continue to work with our law enforcement partners to target those responsible for the distribution of illegal narcotics which enrich the gang while they prey on and poison members of our community.”

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 gang controls its “territory” through violence and threats of violence against rivals and others, controls and participates in drug trafficking including that of fentanyl and methamphetamine, operates illegal gambling establishments (casitas) and collects extortionate “taxes.” 

18th Street is affiliated with the Mexican Mafia prison gang and the Mexican Mafia member who maintained ultimate control over 18th Street is an unindicted co-conspirator – identified in the indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1” – who is an inmate at a California state prison.

From at least July 2020 to March 2026, Gonzalez – the second in command and street boss of 18th Street – directly communicated with Co-Conspirator 1. In this role, Gonzalez had decision-making authority, oversaw the gang’s criminal activity, disciplined members, collected rent, “taxes,” and fines from the gang’s members and associates, and ordered murders of individuals in the gang, the gang’s rivals, or drug traffickers. Gonzalez and others also directed drug trafficking, violent acts, and other criminal activities.

For example, on July 27, 2022, Gonzalez ordered the murder of a victim who failed to pay 18th Street’s extortionate taxes on her drug trafficking activities in the gang’s territory. The victim – identified in the indictment as “M.Z.” – was shot to death. Carillo and Beltran are charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering for their roles in that murder.

Gonzalez, Escalante, Alvarenga, and De Los Angeles also are charged with one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion (Hobbs Act). Escalante additionally is charged with three counts of attempted Hobbs Act extortion, and one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing nearly two pounds of methamphetamine.

“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.”

“This indictment exposes a criminal enterprise that relied on illegal activities that generated steady illicit income,” said Tyler Hatcher, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI Los Angeles Field Office. “By uncovering the financial structure that supported this organization, we are helping dismantle the network that allowed it to operate and profit at the expense of our communities. IRS CI will continue to use our financial expertise to ensure that violent gangs cannot hide their proceeds and cannot use those profits to fuel further harm.” 

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, Carillo and Beltran would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, Gonzalez would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, Alvarenga would face up to 40 years in federal prison, De Los Angeles and Martinez would face up to 20 years in federal prison, and Escalante would face a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.

The FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration - Southern California Drug Task Force (SCDTF), a DEA-led multi-agency task force within the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating this matter with assistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the United States Marshals Service.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jena A. MacCabe of the Major Crimes Section and Daniel H. Weiner of the Transnational Organized Crime Section are prosecuting these cases.