Overview
- Officials executed coordinated warrants on Dec. 17 across Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties under Operation Burning Bridges.
- Authorities report seizing 76 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, body armor, stolen goods, about $9,500 in cash and large quantities of methamphetamine and pills containing fentanyl and carfentanil.
- The Justice Department says 20 defendants are charged, while ATF and local agencies reported 16 to 17 arrests, with some suspects at large and others already in custody on unrelated cases.
- An affidavit links the group to a July 2023 kidnapping in San Bernardino and to shootings in Covina in 2022 and La Puente in May 2025, alongside illegal gun sales and narcotics trafficking.
- Prosecutors say nine defendants face potential life sentences if convicted, and officials describe the effort as part of a broader push to curb violent crime in the San Gabriel Valley.