(CNN) — Dozens of gang members were arrested and illegal guns and drugs seized during a four-day operation in central California, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into the “Goshen massacre,” a “cartel-style” shooting that killed six people on January 16, including a young mother and her 10-month-old son. Authorities say the shooting may have been the result of a conflict with members of the Sureños, a rival gang.
During the operation, a total of 97 homes were searched, 26 suspects arrested and 18 arrest warrants executed. Several firearms and some illegal substances were also confiscated, according to a sheriff’s office statement.
In addition, firearms, ammunition, methamphetamine and cocaine were found during raids in Visalia and Goshen areas against known northern gang members.
Police also foiled an illegal firearms manufacturing operation in which gang members manufactured and sold untraceable firearms to other gang members.
The Sheriff’s Office found that while serving warrants in Tulare County, the California Department of Justice simultaneously searched 23 cells of known Norteño and Nuestra Familia gang members in various California prisons.
Earlier this month, two suspects were arrested in connection with the Goshen shooting. The suspects, identified in the indictment documents as Angel Uriarte, 35, and Noah Beard, 25, are known members of the Norteño gang, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Their arrests were part of a multi-agency operation called Operation Nightmare, which included searches of several California prisons and around-the-clock surveillance of suspects.