Operation Eastern Encore Aggressively Targets Indio Gang Members

After 168 arrests and the confiscation of more than $100,000, Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco announced a new plan-of-action on Tuesday afternoon to control three street gangs.

The plan came after an 18-month investigation, Pacheco said. Tuesday morning, officers from a coalition of law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police and sheriff’s departments served warrants at 450 locations. At least 71 people were arrested.

The county’s new rules come as part of a gang injunction lawsuit filed by his office, which seeks to limit otherwise legal behavior for gang members within a designated “safety zone.”

Behaviors such as associating with other gang members, staying out past curfew, wearing gang clothing and flashing gang signs become a criminal offense for which a gang member can be arrested under the gang injunction, he said. The “safety zone” has a 13.8-mile perimeter which contains 17 schools and seven parks.

“This operation sends a clear message to the hundreds of gang members that call Indio their home,” said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco. “Criminal street gangs will be aggressively opposed by law enforcement using resources at every level of government.”

The Operation Eastern Encore plan was modeled after a plan designed for Desert Hot Springs during Operation Falling Sun, in which similar gang members were taken into custody and new perimeters were set throughout the city.

Pacheco said Indio has 695 known gang members belonging to seven criminal street gangs. Gang members from several local gangs were investigated or contacted by law enforcement during Operation Eastern Encore.

“We will aggressively hunt down this criminal element and surgically remove criminal street gang members and their associates from our community by using our combined resources,” said Indio Police Chief Bradley S. Ramos. “This is a mandate from our community, and we will be diligent with our enforcement of the civil gang injunction as we move forward today and in the future.”