16 alleged leaders of Long Beach gang charged in undercover sting

Sixteen alleged leaders of Long Beach’s largest gang, which has ties to the Mexican Mafia, have been charged or indicted on federal drug trafficking, conspiracy and weapons charges, authorities said Wednesday.

Most of the alleged “shot callers” in the Longos street gang were taken into custody Tuesday morning at the culmination of a three-year investigation by the FBI and Long Beach gang and undercover officers.

Informants bought methamphetamine from those charged, as part of the undercover operation, authorities said. One man was arrested on state murder charges uncovered during the operation.

DOCUMENTS: Read the charges

Nine of the suspects were arrested Tuesday, two have been deported for unrelated reasons and one is considered a fugitive.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said four of those charged were already in state or federal custody. The remaining two defendants were arrested in Florida and Texas, respectively.

Federal authorities identified the 16 charged in federal indictments as:

Gerardo Galvan, aka “Big Head,” 31, of San Pedro; John David Martin, aka “Smokey,” 30, of Cudahy; Manuel Cuanriquez, aka “Wacky,” 31, of Downey.

John Gonzalez, aka “Cisco,” 33, of Long Beach; Raudel Sandoval, aka “Lil Gumby,” 32, of Long Beach; Danny Jose Salazar, “Lonely,” 28, of Long Beach.

Geraldo Santos, aka “Sugar Bear,” 30, of Bellflower; Joseph Ferguson, aka “Jawbreaker,” 41, of Florida; Martha Torres, aka “lil’ Martha,” 25, of Wilmington; and Francisco Sianez, aka “Profit,” of Texas.

Daniel Martinez, “Soldier Boy,” 25, was previously in state custody, and Jose Antonio Baldovinos, aka “Lil Bozo,” 35, was deported.

Baltazar Santacruz, 35, was previously in federal custody; Julio Mario Peraza, aka “Coco,” 27, was deported, and Jose Manuel Gomez, aka “Gato,” 37, was previously in state custody.

Suspect Jose G. Hernandez, “Serio,” 31, is considered to be a fugitive, officials said.

Another man, Mario J. Engfui, 33, was arrested Tuesday by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and was charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney with murder in connection with the investigation.

Several other members of the gang have already been charged by the district attorney with various violent crimes based on information obtained during the federal and Long Beach police probe.

If convicted of the charges, the alleged gang members face up to 10 years to life in prison.

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richard.winton@latimes.com