Six suspected gang members arrested in Merced with shotgun, police say

Six suspected Merced-area gang members were arrested over the weekend after investigators found a shotgun in a car, Merced Police announced Monday.

Gang investigators on Saturday arrested Jesus Alonzo, 18, Rafael Castillo, 23, Nicholas Iniguez, 21, Johnny Cardenas, 30, Eduardo Munoz, 23, and Daniel Godoy, 27. All six were booked into the Merced County Jail on suspicion of weapons and gang allegations.

Officers with the city’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit located the group of men just before 7 p.m. Saturday at a park in the 100 block of West 11th Street in Merced.

“Officers searched Alonzo and his vehicle and located a shotgun and ammunition,” police said in a statement.

Merced Police are asking anyone with any information regarding this crime to contact Gang Violence Suppression Unit GVSU Sgt. Rodriguez at 209-385-4710 or GVSU@cityofmerced.org or the Merced Police Department Tipster Line at 209-385-4725. The public can send information via anonymous text messages to police department by dialing “TIP411” 847411, and including the word “Comvip” as the “keyword” in the text message.