A federal grand jury returned an indictment against 37 suspected Texas Mexican Mafia (TMM) members – including “TMM General” Raul Ramos – charging them with conspiracy, narcotics, and firearm-related crimes.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officials arrested 26 alleged members of the Texas Mexican Mafia in San Antonio late Friday while eight other suspects were already in custody and three are currently fugitives, the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) reported.

The defendants are alleged to have distributed methamphetamine and heroin since the beginning of 2015 as well as collected the “dime,” a ten percent tax imposed by the TMM on non-members who are involved in the distribution of narcotics. Failure to pay the ten percent tax can result in serious physical harm, including death.

“Charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment unsealed this afternoon in San Antonio are: conspiracy to interfere with Commerce by threats or violence (Count 1); conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (Count 2); possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance (Count 3); use, carrying, or discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime (Count 4),” the USAO noted.

If convicted, the defendants facing extortion conspiracy charges could face up to 20 years in federal prison. The defendants facing drug conspiracy charges or drug possession charges face between five and 40 years in federal prison. The defendants who are convicted will receive an additional ten-year consecutive prison sentence if convicted of a firearms charge.

The arrests were the result of an investigation into a heroin/cocaine trafficking operation in San Antonio by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Antonio Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, New Braunfels Police Department, Medina County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hondo Police Department.

Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra.