East Palo Alto's TALIBAN GANG Raided. At least 30 members arrested by FBI & Police.

Law enforcement officials arrested 30 people and seized drugs, firearms and several vehicles Saturday during a series of raids across the Bay Area that were carried out to dismantle one of the region's most notorious and violet gangs, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The first of the raids occured in the 1400 block of Camellia Drive and Gardenia Way in East Palo Alto, about 7 a.m. It was part of the larger operation involving around 500 city, state and federal personnel at about 30 homes in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, San Jose, Emeryville, Gilroy, Sunnyvale, Oakland, San Mateo, Redwood City, Hayward, Belmont, Fremont, San Leandro and Newark. According to residents in the East Palo Alto neighborhood that was raided, smoke bombs were detonated, doors were broken and fences tore down as part of the operation there. Neighbors watched in surprise as local humane society officials confiscated pit bulls from homes on the block. The arrests stemmed from an 18-month-long investigation into the so-called 'Taliban' gang that was sparked by an increase in violence, East Palo Alto Police Department Capt. Carl Estelle said Saturday near where the raid in his city took place. Authorities said the group used the name 'Taliban' for shock value. The East Palo Alto and Menlo Park-based 'Taliban' gang formed in 2002, an off-shoot of a smaller gang called the Midtown Hogs, in response to a conflict between the rival Sac Street gang, authorities said. The Taliban gang started with 10 members but grew in size and force when the Sac Street gang was dismantled by police in 2006 in "Operation: Disrupt and Dismantle." "(Saturday's raids) will result in dismantling one of the most notorious gangs in East Palo Alto," Police Chief Ronald Davis said at a news conference following the raids. "I'm confident that this will have a positive effect and reduce violence in East Palo Alto. But tomorrow is a new day and we will target a new gang." Menlo Park Police Chief Bruce Goitia called the raids "the most significant operation in