16 Arrested on Complaints Alleging Shootings, Kidnapping, and Illegal Sales of Firearms and Narcotics by Puente-13 Gang

LOS ANGELES – Sixteen members and associates of the San Gabriel Valley-based, Mexican Mafia-linked, Puente-13 street gang were arrested today on federal criminal complaints alleging their involvement in one kidnapping, two shootings, illegal firearms sales, and trafficking of narcotics, including methamphetamine cocaine, fentanyl, and carfentanil, a synthetic opioid 100 times more powerful than fentanyl.

The defendants arrested today include:

• Victor Sanchez, 24, a.k.a. “Pollo” and “Chicken,” of San Bernardino;
• Isaiah Castro, 24, a.k.a. “Boy,” of Azusa;
• Isaac Estrada-Frost, 21, a.k.a. “Ghost,” of Rosemead;
• Heather Covarrubias, 40, a.k.a. “Snowbella,” of Diamond Bar;
• Dominic Ornelas, 23, a.k.a. “Dom” and “Lil Speedy,” of Rancho Cucamonga; and
• Adrian Lopez, 25, a.k.a. “Tapped In” and “Monkey,” of La Puente.

There are 20 total defendants charged with various offenses, including distribution of methamphetamine, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a machine gun, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Nine of the defendants are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Los Angeles. The remaining seven defendants are expected to make their initial appearances tomorrow in Los Angeles federal court.

Law enforcement is looking for three defendants who remain at large:

• Larry Castillo, 42, a.k.a. “Lil Dee,” of Victorville;
• Soo Kang, 31, a.k.a. “Easy,” of Koreatown; and
• Bryan Gordian-Padilla, 24, a.k.a. “Goon,” of West Covina.

Another defendant, Heather Johnson, 38, of Victorville, is in state custody. 

During the course of this investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of methamphetamine, thousands of pills containing fentanyl and carfentanil, fentanyl power, 71 firearms, including 14 rifles, one machine-gun conversion device, four short-barreled rifles, three firearms with obliterated serial numbers, three pieces of body armor, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and today seized approximately $9,500 in cash. 

According to affidavits filed with the complaints, Puente-13 is a street gang based in La Puente that enriches itself and the Mexican Mafia prison gang by controlling the distribution of narcotics within its “territory,” maintaining and expanding that control through violence and threats of violence and punishing those in its territory who cooperate with law enforcement.

The affidavits outline a series of criminal acts, including the December 2022 shooting of rival gangsters at a Covina residence in which one of the shooters, Ornelas, tripped and left behind his left shoe, which later helped law enforcement link him to the shooting.

In July 2023, Lopez, Covarrubias, and others kidnapped two victims to retrieve items they believed had been stolen during a burglary at Lopez’s residence earlier that month. One of the victims eventually was allowed to leave, but the other victim fled after being severely beaten.

Another Puente-13-linked shooting occurred in May 2025 outside a La Puente liquor store in which Estrada-Frost, mistaking a victim for being a member of a rival gang, yelled racial slurs at the victim and shot at the victim’s car when the victim drove away from the scene, striking one of the car’s doors.

Other criminal acts outlined in the affidavits include illegal sales of dozens of firearms, and the trafficking of pound quantities of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl and carfentanil pills.

Complaints contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

If convicted, nine of the defendants arrested today would face statutory maximum sentences of life in federal prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating this matter, with assistance from the Covina Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the West Covina Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, and the Baldwin Park Police Department. 

Assistant United States Attorneys Kenneth R. Carbajal and Clifford D. Mpare of the Major Crimes Section are prosecuting this case.