Neo-Nazi gang busted and 68 suspected members indicted across Los Angeles in ‘one of largest takedowns in history’

Federal prosecutors have announced charges against 68 suspected neo-Nazi gang members in the Los Angeles area.

Members of the white supremacist Peckerwoods Gang were named Wednesday in a sweeping indictment filed by the Central District of California. Law enforcement officials had previously arrested 42 defendants before releasing the full list.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the charges include racketeering, firearms trafficking, drug trafficking and financial fraud.

Prosecutors have not reported any known or planned attacks by the group, but U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the group has a mission “to plan attacks against racial, ethnic and religious minorities.”

“We’re not going to wait for the next tragedy to take action,” he said.

The arrests involved federal and local law enforcement, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and resources from the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team. CNN report.

Estrada described their work as “one of the largest actions in the history of the Department of Justice against a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, violent extremist organization.”

LAPD Interim Chief Dominic Choi also addressed the mass arrests and charges in a statement Wednesday.

“The proliferation of gang-related organized crime is deteriorating the core of our society,” Choi said.

He added: ‘Taking guns out of the hands of gang members and drugs out of our streets is just one step further towards reversing this deterioration.

“Today is another example of how local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, with equal dedication, work together to investigate, apprehend and prosecute criminals.”

Pictured: Law enforcement weapons and drugs reportedly seized by Peckerwoods gang

The indictment accused the Peckerwoods of taking orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California’s dominant white supremacist gang.

Specifically, according to the complaint, police seized “large quantities” of illegal firearms, along with dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin.

The Peckerwoods Gang is based in the San Fernando Valley and is “essentially a local chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood,” according to Akil Davis, the FBI deputy director in charge of the Los Angeles field office.

The indictment accused the Peckerwoods of taking orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, California’s dominant white supremacist gang.

The Peckerwoods are said to have helped their incarcerated Aryan counterparts by committing a variety of crimes from the outside to make money for them.

The indicted gang also benefits from the Aryan Brotherhood’s existing alliance with the Mexican mafia, which allegedly gives them “greater freedom to commit outside crimes,” Estrada said.

The Peckerwoods gang members have Nazi symbols tattooed on them. The initials ‘SFV’ indicate San Fernando Valley, where they are located

Over the course of their alliance with the group, Estrada accused the Peckerwoods of committing drug trafficking, identity theft, and even COVID fraud.

“What really sets them apart, what defines them, is their hatred and their hostility toward racial, ethnic and religious minorities,” Estrada added.

Estrada supported this claim, explaining that a previously arrested gang member made threats against Jews via the Internet. Hateful messages were also found in his home.

The name “Peckerwoods” would be a derogatory name for whites in prison, something the gang has since embraced, Estrada said.

The group has tattoos and clothing that reflect their neo-Nazi ideology and also collects Nazi paraphernalia, including swastikas and Confederate flags, Estrada said.

If convicted, the members face a maximum of life in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.