SAN DIEGO, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Authorities said Thursday they had broken up a San Diego gang of alleged kidnappers and killers with ties to Mexican drug traffickers.
The 17 people charged were connected to "Los Palillos," a crew that allegedly murdered nine people in San Diego County in 2007 and 2008, including two whose remains were dissolved in acid, authorities said.
"This rogue group of individuals is responsible for a string of brutal murders and kidnappings that demonstrate the ugly reality of cross-border violence," San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement.
The 22-county indictment capped a two-year investigation by federal, state and local agencies that began in 2007 when the FBI rescued a kidnapped businessman in Chula Vista and arrested five members of the alleged gang.
Los Palillos, which means "toothpicks" in Spanish, consists of Mexican nationals with ties to the Arellano-Felix organization in Tijuana who moved to San Diego, authorities said. The gang allegedly rented houses in the area where they dealt drugs and murdered victims they had lured in or abducted.
Nine of the defendants were in custody Thursday, and 15, including alleged ringleader Jorge Rojas-Lopez, are charged with murders that make them eligible for the death penalty. It was not immediately clear if Rojas-Lopez was among those in custody.
