() — Dozens of gang members were arrested and illegal weapons and drugs were seized during a four-day operation in central California, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.
The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into the “Goshen Massacre,” a “cartel-style” shooting that left six dead, including a young mother and her 10-month-old son, on January 16. Authorities say the shooting may have been the result of a conflict with members of the Sureños, a rival gang.
During the operation, a total of 97 homes were searched, 26 suspects were arrested and 18 arrest warrants were executed. Multiple firearms and some illegal substances were also seized, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
Additionally, raids in the Visalia and Goshen areas against known northern gang members found firearms, ammunition, methamphetamine and cocaine.
Police also thwarted an illegal firearms manufacturing operation, which involved gang members making and selling untraceable firearms to other gang members.
The Sheriff’s Office noted that while arrest warrants were being served in Tulare County, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation simultaneously searched 23 cells of known Norteño and Nuestra Familia gang members in various California prisons.
Earlier this month, two suspects were arrested in connection with the Goshen shooting. The suspects, identified in charging documents as Angel Uriarte, 35, and Noah Beard, 25, are known members of the Norteño gang, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Their arrests were part of a multi-agency effort called Operation Nightmare, which included searches of several California prisons and 24/7 surveillance of suspects.
