Federal authorities arrested 16 alleged gangbangers — with nicknames like “Chicken,” “Ghost” and “Lil Speedy” — linked to a violent Mexican Mafia prison gang following a major investigation into kidnapping, shootings and drug trafficking.
The feds rounded up members and associates of Puente-13, a San Gabriel Valley-based crew, alleging their involvement in one kidnapping, two shootings, illegal firearms sales, and peddling narcotics, including carfentanil, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, the US Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Among those collared were Victor “Pollo” Sanchez, 24; Isaiah “Boy” Castro, 24; Isaac “Ghost” Estrada-Frost, 21; Heather “Snowbella” Covarrubias, 40; Adrian “Monkey” Lopez, 25; and Dominic “Lil Speedy” Ornelas, 23.
Prosecutors said that Ornelas fired a weapon in a deadly 2022 shooting of rival gangsters at a Covina home and tripped during the getaway, leaving behind a shoe that helped law enforcement link him to the bloody crime.
Over the course of the investigation, agents seized a staggering haul: roughly 10 pounds of meth, thousands of pills containing fentanyl and carfentanil, 71 firearms — including rifles, short-barreled weapons and a machine-gun conversion device — body armor, mountains of ammo and nearly $10,000 in cash.
In July 2023, Lopez, Covarrubias and others allegedly kidnapped two people over items they believed were stolen from them during a burglary, the feds charged. One victim escaped after a brutal beating.
In May 2025, Estrada-Frost allegedly fired at a man’s car outside a La Puente liquor store after mistaking him for a rival gang member.
Authorities say Puente-13 operates as a profit arm of the Mexican Mafia, controlling narcotics sales in its territory and punishing anyone who cooperates with police.
Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office, declined to say if more raids are coming.
In total, 20 people have been charged with crimes and two suspects remain on the run. McEvoy confirmed that all individuals taken into custody are US citizens.
Nine defendants face potential life sentences if convicted.
The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office with help from ATF, California Highway Patrol, local police departments and the LA County Sheriff’s Department.
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