DOZENS IN GANG ARRESTED KILLINGS OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS AMONG COUNTS IN INDICTMENT.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

More than 1,300 heavily armed officers launched pre-dawn raids Tuesday against the notorious Vineland Boys gang, sweeping up dozens of suspects under a federal indictment alleging more than a decade of assaults, robberies, drug deals and murders - including the slayings of two police officers.

Operation Silent Night began about 3:30 a.m., with federal and local officers using battering rams and flash-bang grenades in executing some of the 43 search and arrest warrants in Los Angeles, Valencia, Simi Valley, Palmdale, Rosamond and Bakersfield. Authorities made 36 arrests and seized 41 guns, 12 pounds of marijuana and $30,000 cash.

Officials said the raids capped an 18-month investigation against one of the city's most violent gangs. Based in the northeast San Fernando Valley, the Vineland Boys had forged ties with the prison-based Mexican Mafia - or La Eme - to build a national network of drug distribution.

``With today's take-down, we have effectively crippled the gang and put it out of business,'' said U.S. Attorney Debra Yang, whose office is prosecuting the gang under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes.

Authorities say the Vineland Boys' victims include Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka, who was killed in November 2003 in a shootout with a suspected member; 16-year-old Martha Puebla, who was gunned down May 12, 2003, a week after testifying in a murder case; and LAPD Officer James Beyea, who was fatally shot in 1988.

``Today is Armageddon for the Vineland Boys. It's their day of reckoning. The world as they know it has ceased to exist,'' said Burbank Police Chief Tom Hoefel, who was Pavelka's supervisor.

The officer's father, Mike Pavelka, a 30-year LAPD veteran, also spoke at a news conference where the day's activities were detailed.

``As Matthew's father, I would like to express my and our family's gratefulness to all of the agencies that were involved,'' he said. ``Of course, none of this will bring my son back to me but it will certainly make it safer on the streets of the San Fernando Valley.''

The 56-count indictment accuses 43 members of violating RICO, 36 of whom were arrested Tuesday. Among the total of 43, David Garcia, who has been charged with murdering Pavelka, is already in custody.

Garcia and six others are eligible for the death penalty if they are convicted of the charges against them. The other defendants face substantial terms in federal prison, including life without parole.

The 159-page indictment outlined how the gang was created and grew in power, exercising control in parts of Burbank, North Hollywood, Sun Valley and Palmdale.

``The VBS gang was founded in the late 1980s by members of the San Fernando Valley area football team. Within a few years the VBS gang had absorbed several other local street gangs and had established itself as one of the most violent street gangs in the San Fernando Valley,'' the indictment said.

``The VBS gang enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members and associates by murdering, attempting to murder, conspiring to murder, assaulting and threatening those members and associates who violate the rules or pose a threat to the enterprise.''

The raids capped an 18-month investigation by a task force that included members from the FBI, the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff's departments, the Internal Revenue Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Before Tuesday, the task force had arrested 231 Vineland Boys members and associates, impounded 25 cars, and seized 75 guns, 300 pounds of narcotics and more than $1 million in cash.

``Operation Silent Night was a loud wake-up call for gang members of this very violent gang,'' LAPD Chief William Bratton said.

According to the indictment, the gang's activities included large-scale distribution of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as murder, witness intimidation, armed robbery and money laundering.

The gang also paid ``taxes'' to the Mexican Mafia to maintain control of its turf, and in return, was assured protection for its members incarcerated in state prison, the indictment said.

``It's a very sophisticated criminal enterprise,'' Bratton said. ``So many gangs in Los Angeles are not particularly well-organized, not particularly sophisticated. But this is a criminal enterprise very much like the Mafia in terms of the way they work.''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) LAPD officers detain suspects after serving a search warrant in Sun Valley.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2) Officers from local and federal law enforcement agencies gather around a table filled with weapons seized in Operation Silent Night during a news conference Tuesday in Burbank.

(3) Burbank Police Chief Thomas Hoefel explains the details of Operation Silent Night to the media Tuesday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer