Mexican Mafia indictment names woman found dead in Newport

A 28-year-old woman whose body was found face down under the Newport Bay bridge was identified Tuesday in a sweeping indictment against more than 100 members or associates of a prison gang accused of running drugs, order beatings and keeping a list of people it wanted killed.

Nancy Hammour, whose body was found on Labor Day, had been shot to death, and a Santa Ana man is now being held on $1-million bail in connection with her death.

Hammour’s name appears in a multi-agency sweep of Mexican Mafia gang members or associates in central Orange County, with the brief notation: “Deceased.�

According to the indictment, Hammour sold drugs for a gang.

In all, federal and state authorities indicted 129 people after a 2 1/2-year investigation named Operation Smokin’ Aces, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

The probe originally focused on gang crime in a southeast Santa Ana neighborhood but widened after investigators linked local operators to a chapter of the Mexican Mafia that controlled drug traffic on the streets and in Orange County jails.

Hammour was allegedly involved in a crew that distributed meth and heroin.

In February, she sold meth to a police informant and was recorded calling a higher-level dealer to order more drugs, according to the indictment.

Law enforcement officials allegedly recorded her phone calls two more times when she ordered drugs from another defendant in the case.

Family members previously said Hammour was trying to turn her life around at the time of her death so that she could regain custody of her newborn son.

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Times Community News writer Emily Foxhall contributed to this report.