ATF raid nabs 61 suspects

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — An alleged Mongols Motorcycle Club member was arrested Tuesday in an early morning raid at his Glendale home as part of a three-year federal investigation into the club’s reported involvement in criminal activity.

Vicente Rodriguez was taken into custody just before 5 a.m. at his house on the 400 block of Thompson Avenue, where Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies searched his home and removed items, the bureau’s spokeswoman, Elaine Kwong said.

Investigators confiscated a Mongols jacket from his car.

“We are accusing him of racketeering as part of the Mongols,” ATF Special Agent John Torres said.

The Mongols, an outlaw motorcycle club, started in Montebello in the 1970s and are suspected of being involved in criminal activity.

Rodriguez, along with 79 other members, was named in an 86-count federal grand jury indictment Tuesday that alleged the gang was involved in murder, assaults, firearms violations, drug trafficking and hate crimes against African Americans.

Rodriguez and 61 other alleged Mongols members were detained in the raid called “Operation Black Rain,” during which law enforcement agencies in Oregon, Washington and Nevada also arrested members.

“Our vision for this case was to literally stop the violence,” Torres said.

The investigation was shaped by information gathered by four male bureau undercover agents and four female bureau undercover agents, he said.

He described the arrests as a historic moment.

“This is going to go down in the history of law enforcement with these ATF agents going undercover,” Torres said.

Investigators had 120 warrants to search Mongol members’ residences, United States Attorney Thomas O’Brien said at a Tuesday news conference.

More than 70 motorcycles, about 7 pounds of methamphetamine, 86 firearms and five stolen Los Angeles Police Department badges were seized during the raid.

O’Brien also is looking for forfeiture of the Mongols name, which he said is a trademark. The name was often displayed on a patch that was worn on a jacket by Mongol members.

“For the first time ever, we are looking to forfeit the intellectual property of a gang,” he said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also has a court order to prevent gang members from using the Mongols logo, O’Brien said.

O’Brien would not comment on whether the investigation was related to the homicide of 30-year-old Manuel Vincent Martin of Venice, who was shot and killed on the Glendale (2) Freeway just south of the Foothill (210) Freeway on Oct. 8.

Martin was suspected to be a member of the motorcycle club after a man with a Mongols tattoo was seen riding alongside him when he was shot.

Police have not identified him as a Mongols member.

The 59 men and two women arrested Tuesday were taken to the Montebello Police Department, which was guarded by a special weapons and tactics team, Kwong said.

“That just proves how violent they are,” she said. “You just can’t risk it with these guys.”

Residents on Rodriguez’s street didn’t know him as a violent man.

People were often coming in and out of his home, neighbor Maria Chavez said.

“It looked like there was a lot of people there all the time,” she said.

But they never caused a commotion, said Chavez’s daughter, Maria Del Carmen.

Rodriguez lived with a woman and two teenagers, neighbor Juan Flores said.

“They were very quiet,” he said. “They never caused a stir.”

Flores installed carpet in Rodriguez’s house when he moved in two years ago.

Rodriguez often rode his motorcycle down the street, but Flores said he never caused any major disturbances.

Flores occasionally saw a couple of motorcycles outside Rodriguez’s residence.

His was usually the only house on the block that was decorated for Halloween, he said.

Flores was taking his daughter to school Tuesday morning when he saw investigators searching Rodriguez’s home.

“This is the first time something like this has happened in this neighborhood,” the 16-year area resident said.

Flores’ conversations with Rodriguez were limited, but he said when he had a party, Rodriguez’s family members would attend.

“I guess you never know who your neighbors are,” Flores said.

 VERONICA ROCHA covers public safety and the courts. She may be reached at (818) 637-3232 or by e-mail at veronica.rocha@latimes.com.