In a sweeping crackdown targeting the Mexican Mafia, federal and local authorities on Thursday arrested 26 associates of the gang charging them with numerous crimes in Orange County, including kidnapping, extortion, trafficking drugs, running illegal gambling businesses and murder.
In an early morning operation, FBI agents executed arrest warrants across Southern California in connection with federal indictments, according to the agency. Nineteen of those charged were already in custody and two are fugitives. The operation came as part of a two-year investigation involving local and federal authorities.
The case’s main indictment charges 40 people with a series of felonies, including racketeering conspiracy and crimes involving drugs, gambling and illegal weapons, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
The Mexican Mafia, or “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that federal authorities say wields immense control over street gangs in Southern California.
“Gang members who murder, extort, kidnap, and traffic drugs and firearms are a menace to our communities and our way of life,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a news release.
Essayli added that the arrests “highlight the continuing cooperation between federal and local law enforcement against violent felons and our unyielding determination to crack down on organized crime in our prisons and our streets.”
Among those indicted are Luis Cardenas, 48, a.k.a. “Gangster,” “Pops” and “Tio,” an inmate at Ironwood State Prison; Jose Antonio Ochoa Madrigal, 41, who is incarcerated in an Orange County jail; Jaime Alvarado, 42, of Lake Elsinore; Karina Cesena, 32, also of Lake Elsinore; and Mario Flores, 40, of Anaheim.
According to a 66-count indictment, Cardenas oversaw the Mexican Mafia’s criminal activities in Orange County and its jail facilities from June 2024 to April 2026. Authorities allege that Madrigal, Alvarado, Cesena and Flores were high-ranking associates of Cardenas.
Cardenas has been serving a life sentence since 2004 for murdering a rival gang member, according to documents filed in Orange County Superior Court.
According to a law enforcement source who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, Cardenas was believed to have been inducted into the Mexican Mafia around 2022.
According to the recent indictment, Cardenas directed others to kidnap and assault people in bad standing with him. He allegedly delivered those directions using an encrypted messaging app on contraband cellphones.
Last year, on Feb. 3, Matthew Kundrat, 29, a.k.a. “Bubba,” of Anaheim, and Manuel Ramos, 45, a.k.a. “Rhino,” of Santa Ana, allegedly murdered someone at the Akua Inn, a gang-controlled motel in Anaheim. Authorities allege that the men killed the victim to gain entrance to the Mexican Mafia and increase their standing.
Kundrat and Ramos are charged with committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity. If convicted, they would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison and would be subject to the death penalty, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The gang is accused of selling narcotics — including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine — through illegal gambling houses, gangs and drug dealers in Orange County, according to authorities.
Alvarado allegedly oversaw gang-controlled motels and he and Cesena allegedly directed violent retaliation against slap houses that did not pay “taxes.”
On March 14, 2025, Cardenas, Alvarado, Cesena and Flores allegedly directed the kidnapping and assault of a victim employed at a Cardenas-controlled gambling den in Stanton.
Fifteen of those arrested were expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Santa Ana and 10 others in L.A. Twelve additional people are in state custody and are expected to make their initial appearances in the coming weeks.
As part of the investigation, authorities seized nearly nine pounds of fentanyl, 120 pounds of methamphetamine, two pounds of heroin, more than six pounds of cocaine, 25 firearms and more than $30,000 in cash.
Times staff writer Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.
