26 NAMED IN VAST GANG INDICTMENT ALLEGED CRIME RING DEALT CRIPPLING BLOW, FEDS SAY.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

Federal officials filed racketeering, gun and narcotics charges Tuesday against 26 members of Los Angeles' most violent and profitable street gang, and have seized a Burbank home they say was bought with laundered funds.

Among five fugitives named in the 100-page federal indictment is Carlos Wilfredo Carcamo, 31, a member of the infamous 18th Street Gang clique, the Columbia Lil' Cycos. Carcamo is suspected of using more than $100,000 in drug money as a down payment on the $700,000 home on North Parrish Place, FBI officials said.

Eight of the defendants were arrested before dawn Tuesday, and authorities seized $1 million in cash and property, as well as assault rifles and other weapons.

``We do believe we've dismantled the head and torso of their organization,'' Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Attorney for the Central California district, said at a news conference at the federal building in downtown Los Angeles. ``We have crippled them. And if they repair themselves somehow, we'll cripple them again.''

The Columbia Lil' Cycos, or ``CLCS,'' allegedly controlled an $8,000- to $10,000-a week business trafficking cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin in the MacArthur Park area, said FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin.

Authorities say CLCS coordinated narcotics proceeds with the Mexican Mafia, which controls drugs and other criminal activities inside state prisons. The indictment charges that the CLCS required drug dealers to pay a ``rent or tax'' that gave them permission to deal in CLCS territory.

The arrests are the culmination of a more than two-year investigation by the Metropolitan Task Force of Violent Crimes, made up of FBI agents and members of the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Department of Justice.

The charges include racketeering, conspiracy, distribution of controlled substances and money laundering. Several defendants are charged with attempted murder of other gang members.

While Carlos Carcamo is alleged to have participated in the killing of one such gang member, he was the subject of a 1999 murder plot, the indictment says.

Carcamo's brother, Rolando, and his wife, Trinidad - who are not accused of any crime - are living in the four-lot Burbank home with their three children and are fighting to stay there. Federal authorities refused to comment on their situation.

Carlos Carcamo and his family used to live with them in the 4,000-square- foot home, said Rolando Carcamo, 33.

``We've done nothing wrong. I haven't seen my brother since December,'' he said.

The other defendants named in the indictment are: Janie Garcia, 49, of Monterey Park; Anthony Zaragoza and Janet Gonzalez of Maywood; Milton Toscano, 28, of Long Beach; Eduardo Panameno of Tujunga and Los Angeles residents Francisco Martinez, 36; Juan Lopez, 34; Alberto Pina, 28; Fabian Valdez; Ismael Jimenez, 34; Juan Recinos, 24; Hector Rodriguez, 37; Luis Ramirez, 23; Gerd Pineda, 28; Julio Rodas, 38; Mirna Lopez, 35; Raul Hernandez, 26; Olga Hamilton, 48; Deserie Del Valle; Marcos Zaragoza, 45; Delia Gullart; Hector Alcantara; Nelson Garcia, 24; Tomas Mateo, 23; and Carlos Vargas, 29.

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Photo: Trinidad and Rolando Carcamo, who are not accused of any crime, are fighting to stay in the Burbank home the government wants to seize.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer