A man was found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest on Drew Street in Glassell Park August 23. The body of Ilario Perez, 43, was discovered about 7:15 a.m. in the 3400 block of Northeast Los Angeles' notorious Drew Street. A few hours after the shooting, police arrested Jorge “Grinch” Pena and Justin Carlin, two alleged Avenues gangsters out on parole.


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The Avenues gangsters of Drew Street were the subject of a major federal and local law enforcement crackdown in June of 2008 after Avenues gangster Danny Leon – brandishing an AK-47 – was gunned down by LAPD officers on Drew Street, just a few feet away from his family's notorious drug den. In the federal sweep, authorities netted dozens of Avenues gangsters, including Leon's mother, Maria “Chata” Leon, who was considered to be the matriarch of a drug-dealing family of gangsters who lived on Drew Street for decades. The house where Leon and her family lived was torn down by the city last February.

Pena, who is in his early 20s, is the nephew of Leon. He was previously in prison for drug and weapons charges. Carlin, 23, also spent time in prison for weapons and drug charges. Police say Perez had no gang ties. Anyone with information about the shooting should call Northeast Division detectives at (213) 847-4261.

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