There are still more suspects to be found and arrests to be made but with 48 men and women indicted, the Santa Clara County District Attorney calls the investigation into the Nuestra Familia prison gang’s street level thugs, the biggest gang case in county history.

“This three year investigation involved law enforcement agencies big and small,” said Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA).  “Some of our CSLEA members who are special agents with the Department of Justice (DOJ) assisted in this complex case.  Those special agents were in the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) and a part of DOJ task forces.”

Thirty-nine of the 48 indicted have been arrested.  The indictments include 77 felony charges ranging from drugs, robberies, assaults and murder.

Nuestra Familia is a violent prison gang with 27 street-level gangs whose members terrorized neighborhoods.  Some of the street names of the 48 defendants include “Lunatic” and “Nightmare.” 

Some of the 48 have such extensive criminal records involving violent crimes, they qualify as “third-strikers” and could be sentenced to prison for 25 years to life.   Nine fugitives are on the run.