Mexican Mafia Arrests - A raid that included hundreds of agents went into the Eastside of Los Angeles on Wed. and arrested twenty-five members of the Hazard gang.

Apparently, the gang had been active in Boyle Heights for more than 50 years, LA Times noted.

The Hazard gang had ties with the Mexican Mafia. About 800 officers from four different agencies who had been investigating said gang for years, swarmed in the Boyle Heights on a morning raid on Wed.

Among the seized elements were drugs, guns and other evidence. The members of the gang connected and protected by the Mexican Mafia were indicted for racketeering, weapons and gun charges.

This stemmed from the operations that the Hazard gang committed in the Ramona Gardens housing complex and also, the surrounding neighborhood.

"All of the gang's operations operated under the umbrella of intimidation," said Stephanie Yonekura, acting United States attorney, after the trials and NBC Los Angeles reported.

She also shared that the arrests were part of a four-year joint operation between the LAPD, FBI, ATF and IRS agents as well; Hence, the reason for a quantity of 800 officers to swarm all together in order to get the gang members.

In addition, the gang didn't permit local residents to cooperate with the authorities, as they intimidated and extorted one family who had already allowed the police to look into their garage.

The gang, also, seemingly paid routinely "taxes" to the Mexican Mafia and in return, the Mexican Mafia protected the gang in the drugs business, so they could operate without any fear of reprisals of any kind.

According to the indictment, the drugs that the gang distributes are: methamphetamine, phencyclidine (PCP), crack cocaine, heroin and other substances.

The operation led by LAPD and FBI, among others, is not over as seven members of the Hazard gang are still on the run.