COPS JAIL 43, SEIZE WEAPONS IN SWEEP.

Byline: LARRY ALTMAN

Staff Writer

Targeting a gang that has controlled Wilmington's "Ghost Town" neighborhood for 30 years, an army of law enforcement officers swarmed into the community Tuesday, arresting 43 suspects and seizing guns, drugs and more than $14,000 in cash.

Some 500 Los Angeles police officers and state Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided 22 homes and motels.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office, meanwhile, took action to seize five properties under asset-forfeiture laws, while the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed lawsuits to rid the neighborhood of the reputed gang members living in three homes, an apartment building and a motel that authorities said were overrun by gangs and drug dealers.

"All of us hope this will be the beginning of the end of East Side Pain," City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said in an interview.

East Side Pain, a Bloods gang run for generations by nine families, was described by authorities as a sophisticated criminal organization that traffics in guns and drugs.

About 1,200 to 1,500 people live in Ghost Town, a 12-square-block area near the Long Beach border bounded by Sandison Street, Drumm Avenue, Pacific Coast Highway and Sanford Avenue.

The gang holds so much control over the neighborhood that police found it difficult to get inside undetected.

Of the gang's 200 members, 43 have been taken into custody. Seven were charged with federal crimes, including three who could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if they are convicted of narcotics-trafficking offenses.

Prosecutors identified them as Marvin Reed, 44, of Wilmington; Ruben Vazquez, 39, of Long Beach; and Tyus Newborn, 31, of Wilmington.

The others arrested will face state charges.

Police confiscated 15 guns during earlier operations and seized another eight on Tuesday.

"It's time we brought back Ghost Town to the law-abiding residents of this community," Delgadillo said.

The crackdown Tuesday followed a five-month investigation that unified federal, state and local law enforcement officers in a new strategy to battle Los Angeles-area gangs since the Cheryl Green killing in Harbor Gateway.

During the operation, undercover officers purchased guns, cocaine and other drugs from gang members, building "rock-solid cases" against them, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger said.

The City Attorney's Office filed nuisance abatement lawsuits against owners and suspected gang members at locations that have been the continued sites of drug dealing. The lawsuits could force home improvements including security and lighting, or force evictions, impose fines of up to $25,000 and shut down properties for a year.

"The goal is to stop the narcotics activity at the property," said Kevin Gilligan, assistant supervising deputy city attorney for the South Bureau's Safe Neighborhoods Division.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to seize four homes and the Catalina Motel on Pacific Coast Highway.

The U.S. Attorney's Office contends the properties are subject to forfeiture because they were used to facilitate drug dealing.

During Tuesday's early morning raids, police used flash grenades to enter homes. A couple from Nicaragua told The Associated Press that the neighborhood had become consistently worse and they were afraid to allow their teenage daughters to go outside.

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Photo:

A Los Angeles police officer stands guard outside a raided home in Long Beach early Tuesday. Hundreds of officers took part in a huge sweep of gang members aimed at taking violent offenders into custody.

Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press