State Attorney General Kamala Harris stood along Interstate 5 to announce the arrest of 101 people in a massive drug and gang bust.
Harris said the arrests have dismantled the San Joaquin Valley branch of a notorious Northern California gang with ties to state prisons and Mexican drug cartels.
The arrests announced Wednesday in the farming community of Los Banos are the fifth and by far the largest sweep targeting the Nuestra Familia organization in the last two years.
Harris says those charged include two gang leaders who oversaw drug operations and violent activities in Madera and Merced counties.
The 101 arrests are on charges including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and drug trafficking. Investigators say the gang used false paperwork to smuggle drugs across the Mexican border.
Federal, state and local authorities served 54 search warrants as part of the crackdown this week.
