Sixty-eight suspected Los Angeles gang members with ties to white supremacist groups and the Mexican mafia were indicted on Wednesday on federal charges of racketeering, firearms trafficking, drug trafficking and financial fraud.

According to the US Attorney's office, 42 members of the "Peckerwoods" gang, which operated in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, have been arrested so far.

"Today we announce one of the largest takedowns in the history of the Department of Justice against a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, violent, extremist organization," Martin Estrada, the US Attorney for California Central District, said of the year-long operation that led to the arrests.

"This morning, we unsealed an indictment charging 68 members and associates of the Peckerwoods Gang, a white supremacist criminal organization. The Peckerwoods are involved in a wide variety of criminal activity, everything from drug trafficking to fraud offenses to firearms offenses, violence and identity theft. But what truly distinguishes them, what defines them is their hate and their animus towards racial, ethnic and religious minorities," he added.

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Prosecutors said their investigation had found evidence that the Peckerwoods had ties to other criminal organizations, including the Aryan Brotherhood and the Mexican gangs.

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(Production Omar Younis)