SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted 50 alleged members of Puerto Rico's La Asociación ÑETA gang with charges including racketeering, drug trafficking and murder.
The La Asociación ÑETA gang operates within Puerto Rico prisons, according to the Justice Department. The group was originally created by inmates to advocate for rights within the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, but the organization became involved in criminal activities. Those charged include high-ranking members of the gang.
"The main purpose of the organization is to make money," the Justice Department said in a statement. "The enterprise makes money by introducing multi-kilogram quantities of drugs into the PRDCR prisons for profit and by engaging in murders for hire."
The Justice Department's indictment alleges that La Asociación ÑETA members were able to create a marketplace for cocaine, marijuana and heroin within Puerto Rico prisons with the help of corrupt correctional officers, civilians who worked within prisons, people who visited inmates or people who would throw drugs into prisons from outside prison walls.
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The indictment also alleges La Asociación ÑETA members were hired by people not imprisoned to kill fellow inmates. The gang members also allegedly smuggled cellphones into the prison and charged other inmates to use the cellphones. All defendants face up to life in prison.
"Even prison walls were not enough to stop the brazen acts of this violent gang," special agent in charge Douglas A. Leff of the FBI's San Juan Division said in a statement. "In reality, their conduct is more accurately described as that of an international mafia than a prison gang. Their network reached throughout Puerto Rico and the continental United States. This enabled them to order hits on rival gang members, corrupt two sworn officers and to move large quantities of drugs and other contraband, effectively turning their prison into a gang-controlled housing project."
