Updated at: 11/04/2009 5:57 PM | KSAX.com
By: Matt Standal
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Willmar Authorities Warn: Rural Gangs Steadily on the Rise

The latest incident in a string of greater Minnesota violence has Willmar authorities concerned about rural gang activity.

25 year-old Daniel Loera made his first appearance in Kandiyohi County District Court on Monday.  Loera, a suspected Sur 13 gang member, is accused of felony assault for allegedly beating a 16-year-old boy in the head with a baseball bat.

Willmar Police say witnesses were able to identify Loera due to the conspicuous number “13” tattooed on the back of his head. Gang experts from Minnesota’s CEE VI Drug Task force say the Sur 13 gang, also called the “Surenos” often use the number to mark members on their faces and bodies.

“Some of their gang members are committing some pretty serious crimes in our task force area, including Daniel Loera,” said CEE VI Drug and Gang Task Force Officer Ross Ardoff.

However, Ardoff says the Sur 13 gang and other hispanic groups are just the tip of Minnesota’s gang-land iceberg.

“The gangs are made up of people from all ethnic groups --- black, white, latino, Caucasian --- we’ve got caucasion surenos and caucasian latin kings,” Ardoff said.

Over 16 known criminal gangs and 300 active gang members operate in the CEE VI jurisdiction, which covers parts of seven counties in southwest Minnesota.

Ardoff also says the common theme in all rural Minnesota gang activity is drug dealing and “the big focus of the gang activity is drug distribution."

And with rural gangs dealing popular street drugs like marijuana and methamphetamine, CEE VI Task Force officer Don Schmidt says they’re slowly infiltrating greater Minnesota.

“These guys treat it like a business,” Schmidt said. “They find a rural community that isn”t represented by that gang and they will actually push some of their members out in that community ---buy a house, rent a house and set up business there --- begin selling the cocaine, the methamphetamine.”

And according to commander Tony Cruze, Minnesota’s gang task force wants you to know that gang violence is likely to continue in greater Minnesota.

“People may think that it’s ok, but it really isn’t,” Cruze said. “We have so many gangs working in our area and we’d like the people to be aware of that.  Not to be necessarily alarmed, but to be aware of it and help us.”

The gang task force deputies say to simply call 911 if you suspect any type of gang activity.