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U.S. law-enforcement authorities have conducted a large-scale special operation against a criminal organization composed of immigrants from Armenia. According to the newspaper The Los Angeles Times, as a result of a fall arrest 74 members of ethnic groups' Armenian force "(Armenian Power). In a press release the U.S. Justice Department says more than 80 detainees. The operation called "blackout" (Operation Power Outage) was held on Wednesday, February 16. It was attended by more than a thousand employees of various U.S. law enforcement agencies, including police and the FBI. Most of the alleged mobsters were arrested in California. However, the arrest took place in other regions of the United States, particularly in Miami and Denver. In total, arrest warrants were issued against 102 defendants. Behind the bars were about 80 mobsters. More than 20 remain at large. The detentions were the result of a two-year investigation of bank fraud in one of California's cities. It was found that attackers are substituted in supermarkets 99 Cent Only devices for reading credit cards, took possession of personal information holders, and then produced on the basis of fake credit cards. During further investigation, investigators determined that the fraudulent scheme developed Armenian mafia groups. Was established involvement of the Armenian mafia and other crimes. In particular, some of the detainees were charged with kidnapping, extortion, assaults, drug dealing and intimidation. Nevertheless, most of the detainees imputable mainly financial fraud. According to American security officials, "The Armenian force" was formed in Los Angeles in 1980. Immigrants from Armenia, moved to the U.S. from the Soviet Union, have joined a terrorist group to have rebuffed an influential Latin American street gangs. Until the arrests on Feb. 16, "The Armenian force" had about 200 members. Based gang in Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, known for its largest Armenian community. Associated Press notes that the Armenian mafia in close contact with a Mexican prison faction "LaEme" what is considered one of the most influential bands in California. "Armenian Power" also had influential connections among "thieves" in Russia and his native Armenia. It should be noted that the raid Feb. 16 – is not the first U.S. special operations security forces against ethnic gangs. In January 2011, the FBI and the police conducted a major raid against the mafia syndicates in New York, during which it was seized over a hundred Italian gangsters. February 9, American security forces staged a raid on the Latin oamerikanskie and black street gangs, which culminated in the arrest 41 gangsters. Even earlier, in October 2010, under the impact U.S. law enforcement has got another Armenian criminals. In particular, the investigators exposed the fraudulent scheme with health insurance, damage from which was estimated at 160 million dollars. Was delayed more than 50 people, including leader of the group 46-year-old Armenian "kingpin" Armen Ghazarian.
