The US charges 68 in the case against the white supremacist gang in California

Federal authorities have charged 68 members of a California-based white supremacist street gang with crimes in an effort to dismantle the organization.

So far, at least 42 members of the SFV Peckerwoods, based in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, have been arrested.

The 76-count indictment includes charges of racketeering activity, drug trafficking – including fentanyl – possession of illegal firearms, and engaging in fraudulent Covid-19 benefits and loan fraud.

The U.S. Department of Justice says the Peckerwoods gang sometimes takes orders from the Aryan Brotherhood, a neo-Nazi gang based in California prisons, and has an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, which controls most of the Latino street gangs in California controls.

The Peckerwoods are accused of trafficking fentanyl and other drugs in the area, and of committing robberies and financial fraud to finance their activities and aid the Aryan Brotherhood, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Wednesday.

Members used iconography and tattoos, including those of swastikas, the symbol 88, the code for “Heil Hitler,” and images of Nazi planes, to signify their ideology, the Justice Department says.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said the group was a “grave threat to our community” and a “destructive force.”

Federal prosecutors say the group primarily trafficked narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine. Members from the Hollywood area are accused of maintaining so-called stash houses where drugs were stored.

Several members are also accused of allegedly submitting false applications for the Payment Protection Program, a Covid-19 initiative that offered loans — many of which were forgivable — to keep small businesses afloat.

One applicant received a loan of nearly $21,000 after claiming he was an “artist/writer” with an annual income of $250,000, federal prosecutors say.

The same defendant also filed unemployment claims in other people’s names in order to get extra money, prosecutors allege.

Justice says the suspects face a maximum prison sentence of life in prison if convicted.