Thirteen arrested in Yuba City, Marysville raids
Arrested on drug and gang-related charges:
Marcelino Castro, 19 — attempted murder, transporting marijuana, contributing to minor delinquency, criminal street gang participation. $125,000 bail.
Kevin Soto, 18 — child cruelty, contributing to minor delinquency, selling marijuana to a minor, criminal street gang participation. $125,000 bail.
Victor Manuel Guzman-Soto, 28 — attempted murder, child cruelty, criminal street gang participation. $86,000 bail.
Yobani Mendez, 21 — criminal street gang participation, transporting marijuana. $45,000 bail.
Irvin Munoz, 22 — criminal street gang participation, transporting marijuana. $45,000 bail.
Germain Mendez, 20 — criminal street gang participation, transporting marijuana. $45,000 bail.
Gilberto Diaz, 22 — criminal street gang participation. No bail information.
Carlos Becerra, 21 — criminal street gang participation. No bail information.
Fidel Enriquez Madrigal, 20 — criminal street gang participation. $25,000 bail.
Armando Garcia, 24 — criminal street gang participation and transporting marijuana. $45,000 bail.
Three individuals were detained by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement:
David Arriga Ramirez, 27.
Jose Castro, 27.
Elvira Garcia, 39.
More than a dozen suspected gang members were arrested Tuesday in Yuba City and Marysville in a massive investigation focusing on gangs, drugs, weapons, shootings and a homicide.
Thirteen arrests were made during early morning raids, Yuba City police said.
Additionally, police said, 10 arrest warrants and 11 search warrants were served simultaneously. Police seized two rifles, three handguns, 3 pounds of marijuana and an ounce of methamphetamine.
"As a result of this investigation, new leads have been developed in the Anthony Gonzales homicide and are actively being pursued by the Yuba City Police Department," spokeswoman Shawna Pavey said in a press release.
Gonzales, an 18-year-old Yuba City resident, was shot in the head Feb. 12 near Gauche Aquatic Park.
No arrests have been made, but police believe they are closing in on potential suspects, Pavey said in a phone interview. Just last month, detectives confirmed they had reopened the investigation.
Tuesday was the first time police have acknowledged a gang connection to the homicide.
Officers also confirmed the Sept. 16 shooting of an Olivehurst man outside the El Marino Bar in Yuba City was also connected to same investigation. Marcelino Castro and Victor Soto Guzman were arrested last month in connection with the September shooting.
"The investigation revealed Castro was the self-proclaimed 'shot-caller' for one of the local gangs," Pavey said in the statement.
More than a dozen local, regional and state law enforcement agencies were involved in the sprawling investigation, including the NET-5 Task Force, sheriff's departments in Sutter and Yuba counties, the California Highway Patrol, Marysville police, Sutter County Probation, Butte and Yolo counties narcotics agents, Woodland police, the Sutter County District Attorney's Office and the state Department of Corrections.
"It was quite a large scale effort," Pavey said.
Officials from the US Department of Homeland Security detained three suspects, but police declined to elaborate on the federal government's involvement.
Sheriff's deputies confirmed Homeland Security agents were in Sutter County last week, but also declined to comment on the nature of that investigation.
It was not clear if the two investigations were connected. Efforts to reach federal officials were not successful.
The inquiry picked up steam in July as detectives were looking into rival gang members suspected of involvement with Gonzales' death. An investigation was launched after several members of the rival gang were linked to possible weapons and drug sales in Sutter County, police said.
Detectives confirmed older gang members were recruiting juveniles.
Anyone with information about Gonzales' death is asked to call the Yuba City Police Department at 822-4660.
