FBI raid in Oakland; 9 gang members charged following 2019 slayings

The Brief

FBI agents raided at least one apartment in Oakland.

Nine members of the Oakland Sureños were charged with racketeering in connection with 2 slayings and 3 attempted murders.

Eight men will appear in Oakland federal court on Thursday. One is still at large

OAKLAND, Calif. – FBI agents were seen swarming an Oakland apartment early Wednesday morning, and hours later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the federal grand jury indictment of nine men on charges of racketeering conspiracy in connection with two murders, three attempted murders, narcotics and firearms distribution, and other related crimes allegedly committed by two Oakland-based Sureño street gangs.

The nine defendants were charged in an indictment filed Oct. 9. Their names are:

Marvin Bonilla, a/k/a “Malandro,” 24

Edwin Cano-Merida, aka “Zombie,” 24

Cesar Rolando Lucas-Pablo, a/k/a “Lobo,” 28

Walfer Mendoza-Mendoza, a/k/a “Shorty,” 31

Gonzalo Pablo, a/k/a “Chalo,” 25

Jeronimo “Orlando” Pablo-Carrillo, a/k/a “Paisano,” 41

Mario Pablo-Matias, a/k/a “Chuco,” 24

Raymundo Pablo-Matias, a/k/a “El Moch,” 31

Carlos Ramiro-Mendoza, a/k/a “Minch,” 28

The charges were unsealed on Wednesday and the arraignment is scheduled for Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu. It was not clear if any of the men had attorneys representing them. 

Six of the nine defendants were arrested Wednesday morning, according to prosecutors. Video at the scene shows the FBI showing up to a house at Colomo Street and Fruitvale Avenue about 4 a.m. Oakland police and at least one ambulance were also seen during the operation.

Lucas-Pablo and Pablo-Carrillo were already in custody, and Gonzalo Pablo remains at large, prosecutors said in a news release. A number of the defendants are unlawfully residing in the United States, prosecutors said, though they didn’t specify how many, or which ones.

“Like people everywhere, the residents of Oakland deserve safe and peaceful neighborhoods, not ones filled with fear and senseless violence,” United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian said in a statement. “The administration has made it clear that enough is enough.”

Falck ambulances and Oakland police are on scene of an FBI bust of alleged Sureno gang members. Photo: AIO Filmz Oct. 29, 2025

One neighbor told KTVU that she heard a loud banging in the morning, and she initially thought it was a gun shot. She said she was “very surprised” to see such a large police presence outside her home.

Oakland Sureños

According to the indictment, the nine men were members of a racketeering enterprise referred to in the indictment as the Oakland Sureños, who are generally recognized as a Mexican Mafia prison gang. The larger Sureños gang was organized into “cliques,” smaller groups that typically operated within specific territory.

SAP and SSL-502 were among the Oakland Sureños cliques, prosecutors explained.

SAP originally stood for “San Antonio Park,” a public park located between 16th Avenue and 18th Avenue in Oakland, which SAP had claimed as its primary turf before moving to Estuary Park around 2019, according to court documents.

SSL-502, which stood for South Side Locos combined with “502,” the telephone country code for Guatemala, originally claimed as its turf the area surrounding the 1300 and 1400 blocks of 72nd Avenue before expanding to Arroyo Viejo Park in approximately 2017, according to court documents.

Prosecutors alleged that the gang members committed a string of crimes, including murder, shootings, firearms trafficking, and narcotics trafficking, to “enhance and protect the power, territory, and profit of the gang and to gain entry into, and improve a member’s status in, the gang.”

2019 slayings

These crimes included committing violence against gang rivals perceived as disrespecting the Oakland Sureños, which led to innocent members of the public being injured or killed, prosecutors said. Some examples include two 2019 homicides, in which the victims were perceived to be rivals.

Each of the nine men are charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In addition, the indictment alleges that special sentencing factors apply to six defendants:

Gonzalo Pablo for his alleged role in the Nov. 22, 2018, attempted murder of an unidentified victim

Cesar Rolando Lucas-Pablo, Jeronimo “Orlando” Pablo-Carrillo, and Carlos Ramiro-Mendoza for their respective roles in the January 5, 2019, murder of a victim identified as “R.B.P.”

Carlos Ramiro-Mendoza and Jeronimo “Orlando” Pablo-Carillo for their respective roles in the Jan. 19, 2019, murder of a victim identified as “S.R.J.”

Edwin Cano-Merida and Mario Pablo-Matias for their respective roles in the May 15, 2021, attempted murder of a victim identified “M.M.”