{"id":99811,"date":"2025-12-18T16:29:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99811\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:29:10","slug":"17-tied-to-mexican-mafia-affiliated-puente-13-gang-arrested-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99811\/","title":{"rendered":"17 tied to Mexican Mafia-affiliated Puente-13 gang arrested in Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. – Federal authorities arrested 17 members and associates of the La Puente-<\/a>based Puente-13 gang on Wednesday following a major investigation into kidnapping, shootings, and large-scale drug trafficking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Puente-13 gang arrests <\/p>\n

What we know:<\/p>\n

Federal officials have charged a total of 20 defendants in an indictment outlining a wide range of criminal activity in the San Gabriel Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The charges include the distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and the illegal sale of firearms, including machine guns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of those charged, 17 were arrested this week, one is already in state custody, and two are on the run.<\/p>\n

The defendants arrested on Wednesday include:<\/p>\n

Victor Sanchez, 24, a.k.a. “Pollo” and “Chicken,” of San Bernardino;<\/a>Isaiah Castro, 24, a.k.a. “Boy,” of Azusa;<\/a>Isaac Estrada-Frost, 21, a.k.a. “Ghost,” of Rosemead;<\/a>Heather Covarrubias, 40, a.k.a. “Snowbella,” of Diamond Bar;<\/a>Dominic Ornelas, 23, a.k.a. “Dom” and “Lil Speedy,” of Rancho Cucamonga;<\/a> andAdrian Lopez, 25, a.k.a. “Tapped In” and “Monkey,” of La Puente.Bryan Gordian-Padilla, 24, a.k.a. “Goon,” of West Covina.<\/a> <\/p>\n

The investigation revealed that the gang allegedly used violence to protect its territory and enrich the Mexican Mafia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the probe, law enforcement seized 71 firearms, 10 pounds of methamphetamine, and thousands of pills containing fentanyl and carfentanil\u2014a synthetic opioid significantly more potent than fentanyl.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California <\/p>\n

Timeline:<\/p>\n

The affidavits filed in court detail specific violent incidents spanning several years:<\/p>\n

December 2022: Suspected gang members allegedly shot at rivals at a residence in Covina<\/a>. Investigators linked one suspect, Dominic Ornelas, to the scene after he reportedly tripped and left behind his left shoe.July 2023: Adrian Lopez and Heather Covarrubias allegedly participated in the kidnapping of two victims. The victims were targeted to retrieve items believed to have been stolen from a gang member’s home. One victim was severely beaten before escaping.May 2025: Isaac Estrada-Frost allegedly yelled racial slurs and shot at a victim\u2019s car outside a liquor store in La Puente after mistaking the individual for a rival gang member.Wednesday: Federal authorities conducted a sweep, arresting 16 suspects who began making their initial court appearances in Los Angeles. Two fugitives on the run <\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The following two fugitives are still on the run:<\/p>\n

Larry Castillo, 42, a.k.a. “Lil Dee,” of Victorville<\/a>; and \"\" <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California <\/p>\n

Soo Kang, 31, a.k.a. “Easy,” of Los Angeles \"\" <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California <\/p>\n

Another defendant, Heather Johnson, 38, of Victorville, is in state custody.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Initial court appearances for nine of the defendants took place Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The remaining seven defendants are expected to appear before a judge on Thursday.<\/p>\n

If convicted, nine of the defendants arrested on Wednesday would face statutory maximum sentences of life in federal prison.<\/p>\n

Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Los Angeles<\/a>Los Angeles County<\/a>La Puente<\/a>Mexico<\/a>Instastories<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. – Federal authorities arrested 17 members and associates of the La Puente-based Puente-13 gang…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1184,2042,2444,48,52,51,19180,47,137,50,49,2457,100,425,1181,8074],"class_list":{"0":"post-99811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-crime-publicsafety","10":"tag-instastories","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-headlines","13":"tag-la-news","14":"tag-la-puente","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-county","17":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","18":"tag-los-angeles-news","19":"tag-mexico","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-series","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}