Lawsuit against the Sureno 13 gang comes just before Cinco de Mayo, a popular Latino fiesta, which runs May 1-2. Police Chief John Harrington calls Sureno 13 the fastest growing gang in the Twin Cities. He says the level of violence it is able and willing to commit is escalating. City attorney John Choi says if approved by a judge, the measure would allow St. Paul Police officers to arrest any gang member found within a so-called safe zone near the festival. "If they want to come to the event they can certainly come with their mom or come by themself. But if they're engaging in gang behavior or basically hanging out with another known gang member -- ultimately that's what we want as a court order and then a violation of that court order is a misdemeanor crime. So that will help law enforcement in many ways," he said. Choi says during last year's Cinco de Mayo celebration, a Sureno gang member was involved in a drive-by shooting. But law enforcement officials say that doesn't mean the festival is unsafe. A judge will hear the city's arguments April 24.

Nine of the gang members were arrested based on outstanding state arrest warrants and are being held in state custody on criminal charges including burglary, theft, assault, drive-by shootings, weapons violations and various misdemeanor charges. All nine are under immigration detainers so that if they're released from state custody, they'll be detained by ICE. All 22 people arrested are from Mexico, and allegedly are associated with the Vato Loco Boys, Sureno 13, Players for Life, and North Side Gangsters. (ICE news release, July 2)In a three-day operation ending June 27 in the Richmond, Va., metropolitan area, ICE Gang Investigation Unit special agents arrested 20 people the agency described as "known gang members" and 21 it referred to as "identified gang associates" from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. (In past sweeps, the agency has implied that "gang associates" may include family members cohabiting with the alleged gang members—see INB, Oct. 28, 2007) According to ICE, those arrested were affiliated with the MS-13, Sur-13, Latin Kings, and Vatos Locos street gangs. ICE said five search warrants were served and "numerous cases are being presented for federal and/or state prosecution."The operation involved collaboration with agencies including the Virginia State Police, Virginia Office of the Attorney General, US Attorney of the Eastern District of Virginia, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Chesterfield County Police Department, Chesterfield County Probation and Parole, United States Secret Service, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the US Postal Inspection Service. (ICE news release, June 27)In a statewide New Jersey operation carried out from June 15 through June 21, led by the ICE Office of Investigation in Newark, agents arrested 76 "gang members" and 20 "gang associates" from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. The gang members allegedly belong to the MS-13, La Mugre, LA-13, DDP, Trinitarios, Mexican Mafia, Los Pitufos, Vatos Locos, Bloods and Crips street gangs. According to ICE, only three cases are to be presented for federal prosecution, while seven people were arrested on state charges and 30 of those arrested were merely "unlawfully present" in the US. Three weapons were seized along with what ICE described as "gang paraphernalia." Agencies collaborating in the sweep included the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, West New York Police Department, Newark Police Department, New Brunswick Police Department, Passaic Police Department, Union City Police Department, Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, and Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office. (ICE news release, June 23; The Record, Hackensack, NJ, June 24)In a two-day operation announced June 12, ICE agents arrested, or in some cases assisted in arresting, 22 people in the area of Brockton, Mass. Those arrested included 11 "gang members and associates" and 11 other people accused of federal and/or state criminal violations, including administrative immigration violations, who were encountered during the operation. Of the 22 people arrested, 16 are US permanent residents whose criminal convictions may render them eligible for deportation, according to ICE, while five are living in the US without permission and one had a prior deportation order. The arrested immigrants are from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Haiti. The operation was carried out in partnership with the Brockton Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, the US Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, ATF, the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance, and the police departments of the Massachusetts cities of Boston, Fall River, Stoughton and Taunton. (ICE news release, June 12)In a statewide Georgia operation culminating on June 7, ICE agents arrested or helped to arrest 127 nationals of Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala who were living in Dalton, Savannah, Albany and the Atlanta metropolitan area. Those arrested included 122 people the agency identified as gang members, and five it identified as gang associates. Seven people were to be prosecuted on federal charges of illegal re-entry after deportation, and 19 were arrested for state charges or had outstanding arrest warrants. Two weapons were seized during the operation.
Cooperating agencies included the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, the ATF, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI); the city police departments of Atlanta, Canton, Cartersville, Chamblee, Dalton, Forest Park, Gainesville, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Spring, Roswell, and Sandy Springs; the county police departments of Clayton County, Cobb County, Dekalb County, Gwinnett County and Henry County; and the sheriff's offices of Atkinson County, Bartow County, Cherokee County, Coffee County, Douglas County, Forsyth County, Gwinnett County, Hall County, Rockdale County, Tift County and Whitfield County. (ICE news release, June 10)In a six-day ICE-led operation announced on June 8, 149 people were arrested in the Texas cities of Houston, Conroe, Galveston, Sugar Land, Bryan, Richmond, Beaumont and Corpus Christi. According to ICE, 67 of those arrested were "gang members and their associates," allegedly affiliated with 22 different street gangs. Of the total 149 people arrested, 32 were US citizens arrested on outstanding warrants. The 117 non-citizens arrested in the sweep were from Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Pakistan. Seven of those arrested were females. Of the 67 people who were identified as "gang members and associates," 20 were arrested on outstanding state arrest warrants and turned over to local authorities; one was arrested on an outstanding federal drug arrest warrant. The other 46 people arrested were present in the US without permission; 28 of them are facing federal criminal charges for illegal entry or illegal re-entry after deportation.The Air and Marine branch of US Customs and Border Protection provided air support for the operation. Other agencies assisting the operation included the Houston Police Department's Gang Task Force and the police forces of the cities of Beaumont, Conroe, Corpus Christi, La Porte, Orange, Port Arthur and South Houston; the sheriffs' offices of Brazos, Fort Bend, Harris, Jefferson and Montgomery counties; and US Postal Inspectors, FBI, ATF, and the US Attorney's Offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. (ICE news release, June 8)From June 2 to 5, agents operating out of ICE's office in San Antonio, Texas arrested 32 "gang members and associates," including 23 in San Antonio and a total of nine in Austin, Laredo and Harlingen. Of the 23 detained in San Antonio, 18 were arrested on state criminal charges while seven were arrested on federal charges. Agencies participating in the operation included: San Antonio Police Department, ATF, US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, US Marshals Service's Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, Bexar County Sheriff's Department and Bexar County District Attorney's Office. (ICE news release, June 6)

Daniel Ray Francis, a father of four from Little Flock, was shot in the back of the head May 6, 2006, as he rode in a friend’s car on U. S. 71 Business near Pleasant Grove Road. Serafin Sandoval-Vega, 20, Manuel Enrique Camacho, 27, and Roxana Hernandez, 22, are charged in Benton County Circuit Court in connection with his death. Witness statements show that 32-year-old Francis was gunned down in a gang crime, prosecutors say. Tracy Stith told investigators that he and Francis had been in a roadway dispute with the trio and that both cars took turns cutting in front of each other and slamming on the brakes. After about 15 minutes, Sandoval-Vega stuck a gun out the window of Camacho’s Honda Civic and fired, prosecutors say. “This wasn’t a road-rage shooting. It was a gang initiation,” said Al Valdez, a gang expert. “Mr. Camacho seized an opportunity in a dispute with strangers to let Sandoval-Vega commit a crime to get into a gang.” Sandoval-Vega, whom prosecutors say pulled the trigger, is charged with capital murder, while Camacho and Hernandez are charged with being accomplices. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Sandoval-Vega and Camacho. Hernandez, if convicted, faces up to life in prison. Valdez is a retired California gang investigator who is an adjunct professor with University of California, Irvine. He is a regular guest on the History Channel TV series Gangland.
Circuit Judge Tom Keith will decide before a May 7 hearing if Valdez’s testimony will be allowed as evidence. Defense attorneys Friday called their own expert who contested the findings of Valdez. Valdez said Friday that he made his determination in the case based on gang tattoos on Camacho’s body, on Camacho’s deep involvement with gang crime in California and on statements that he and others made after their arrests in Benton County. Valdez relied heavily on statements by informants who told prosecutors Camacho bragged to them in detail while in the county jail that the killing was a gang initiation. Camacho bragged to informants that he’s a “shot caller” with a local sect of Sureno 13, a Hispanic gang with roots in California, Valdez said. Camacho purportedly said the gang requires new members to shoot someone to get in. Camacho told informants he and the others were “on a mission” the day of the shooting, meaning they were carrying out a gang act or crime, Valdez said.
Camacho told informants he “threw” a gang sign before Sandoval-Vega fired at Francis, and that he told Sandoval-Vega to “shoot that fool,” Valdez said.
As a juvenile, Camacho had been convicted in Monterey County, Calif., in a drive-by shooting, Valdez said. After he moved to Rogers, he told police who questioned him in 2006 that he belonged to the South 18 th Street gang. After his arrest in Francis’ slaying, he bragged to informants that he had “people below him” in the local gang. “This is typical of gang members who leave California and become transplants in other states,” Valdez said. “He became a big fish in a little pond. The local kids looked up to him. He had instant street credibility.” Camacho’s tattoos include “Sur” on his stomach and “13” on his right arm, Valdez testified. On his neck, he has “831” the area code near where he lived in California. Camacho looked gaunt in court Friday and wore the collar of a white dress shirt up high around his neck. He and Hernandez had several supporters in court, while Sandoval-Vega had none. Twyla Francis, widow of the dead man, sat stoically with friends and family. Her face flushed when Valdez said the defendants “played with” Francis and Stith, engaging them in the roadway dispute for about 15 minutes before Sandoval-Vega fired with Camacho’s gun.
The defense expert, Brian Contreras, who runs the nonprofit youth program Second Chance in Salinas, Calif., testified that the shooting lacks the characteristics of a true gang shooting. Contreras studies and works with members of Vagos Sureno, a gang Camacho belonged to when he lived in the Salinas area.

“I don’t believe this crime was gang-related,” Contreras said. “Most gang crime is gangon-gang. The majority of our gang members will not target innocent victims. They’re out for territorial-based control, and they will not shoot an innocent person as an initiation. They’ll target rival gang members.” An arrest affidavit released shortly after the shooting states that Stith and Francis first noticed Camacho’s black Honda Civic after the two men left County Line Liquor in Springdale.

“Look out for the guys behind us,” Francis said to Stith, his coworker at J. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell.
Stith said the Honda sped up behind his Acura, then quickly passed it. The Civic whipped in front of Stith’s car and applied the brakes three times.
Camacho stuck his hand out the sunroof and made an obscene gesture, Stith said. Stith drove behind the Civic for a while, then passed it. He got in front of the car and, too, tapped his brakes.
The two cars separated and continued north on 71 B. At Pleasant Grove Road, the Civic pulled up alongside Stith and Francis and the tinted passenger window went down. A gun came out and began firing.
Francis was struck three times. Stith said he got the Civic’s license plate and called 911.
Hours later, police arrested the trio at a Bentonville convenience store parking lot. They found a pistol and a box of bullets in Camacho’s car, court records show.