Federal, state officials nab top leaders of La Puente-based gang with ties to Mexican Mafia

LA PUENTE - Federal and state police on Tuesday arrested the top two leaders of the Puente 13 street gang during an early morning sweep.

Authorities arrested 40-year old gang leader Rafael Munoz Gonzalez of La Puente and his brother Cesar Munoz Gonzalez, 36, of Rowland Heights, who served as the gang's second in command, prosecutors said.

The operation, which began at

5 a.m., also led to arrests of six other members and associates of Puente 13, prosecutors said.

"Today's arrests send the message that law enforcement will continue to work together to take back our neighborhoods and get violent drug traffickers and gangs off our streets," Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum said in a statement.

The 52-page indictment alleges gang members sold methamphetamine, killed a rival gang member, sold guns, extorted drug dealers and planned stabbings to scare fellow gang members from cooperating with police.

Puente 13, formed nearly six decades ago, claims a large swath of La Puente and parts of surrounding Hacienda Heights, Walnut and West Covina as its territory. The gang, numbering as many as 600 members, is accused of helping fund the Mexican Mafia, which is a prison-based umbrella organization that demands tribute from Southern California street gangs.

Rafael Munoz Gonzalez is the only member arrested who is known to be part of the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.

The 17 suspects

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