 *** B-roll and photos of
the operation available here.
WASHINGTON — A six-week nationwide gang operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) concluded this weekend with 1,378 arrests across the United States – the largest gang surge conducted by HSI to date. The operation targeted gang members and associates involved in transnational criminal activity, including drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human smuggling and sex trafficking, murder and racketeering.
|
Of
the 1,378 total arrested, 1,098 were arrested on federal and/or state criminal
charges, including 21 individuals arrested on murder related charges and seven
for rape and sexual assault charges. The remaining 280 were arrested on
administrative immigration violations. Of the total arrested, 933 were U.S.
citizens and 445 were foreign nationals from 21 countries in South and Central
America, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.
Numerous
state, local and federal law enforcement partners, including ICE’s
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), participated in the HSI-led operation,
which ran March 26 to May 6.
“Gangs
threaten the safety of our communities, not just in major metropolitan areas
but in our suburbs and rural areas, too,” said ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan.
“Gang-related violence and criminal activity present an ongoing challenge for
law enforcement everywhere. Our efforts to dismantle gangs are much more
effective in areas where partnership with local law enforcement is strongest.”
Of
the 1,378 total arrested, 1,095 were confirmed as gang members and affiliates
– including 137 affiliated with the
Bloods, 118 with the Sureños, 104 with MS-13, and 104 with the Crips. The
remaining 283 claimed no gang affiliation but were arrested on either criminal
or administrative charges.
Individuals
are confirmed as gang members if they admit membership in a gang; have been
convicted of violating Title 18 USC 521 or any other federal or state law
criminalizing or imposing civil consequences for gang-related activity; or if
they meet certain other criteria such as having tattoos identifying a specific
gang or being identified as a gang member by a reliable source.
Three individuals arrested during this operation previously had deferred
action under DACA (Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals). Aliens granted DACA who are found to pose a
threat to national security or public safety may have their deferred action
terminated at any time and the Department of Homeland Security may seek their
removal from the United States. Since the start of DACA in 2012, DHS has
terminated deferred action for approximately 1,500 recipients due to
criminality or gang affiliation concerns.
Ten
individuals arrested during this operation crossed the border as unaccompanied
minors. Nine of the 10 were confirmed as gang members, eight of whom were MS-13
gang members.
During
this operation, HSI and its partner law enforcement agencies seized 238
firearms; various narcotics including 790.15 ounces of cocaine, 546.96 ounces
of methamphetamine, 113.42 ounces of heroin, 1.59 ounces of fentanyl, and
8,019.46 ounces of marijuana; and $491,763 in U.S currency.
Enforcement
actions occurred around the country, with the greatest activity taking place in
the HSI Houston, HSI New York, HSI Atlanta, and HSI Newark areas.
Enforcement actions conducted
during the operation include:
- HSI Washington, D.C.,
administratively arrested 10 members of MS-13, and criminally arrested one
member of MS-13, on April 26 at a stash house in Falls Church, Virginia.
HSI and local law enforcement partners were originally surveying the house
because they had received reports about alleged sex trafficking taking
place at the residence. Two of the individuals had outstanding orders of
removal. The Fairfax County Police Department and ERO assisted with the
arrests.
- HSI San Antonio (Texas),
working in conjunction with the San Antonio Police Department Violent
Crimes task force initiative, arrested Gilbert Vasquez III, an associate
of the Tango Orejon Gang in San Antonio on April 5. A search of the house
found cocaine, meth, heroin, four handguns – one of which was stolen – and
over $48,000 in cash. Three other subjects found in the house were also
arrested including Brent Reum, a known member of the Tango Orejon Gang.
- HSI San Diego (California)
Border Enforcement Security Taskforce (BEST) arrested 23 gang members and
associates on April 25-27. They also seized 17 firearms, meth, marijuana,
over $25,000 in U.S. currency and several thousand rounds of various calibers
of ammunition. The HSI-led investigation targeted several documented
street gangs working together, across territorial lines, to promote their
criminal enterprises. All subjects arrested are being prosecuted federally
for violations of various narcotics, money laundering, weapons and
criminal street gang connected offenses. The U.S. Marshals, San Diego
Police Department, Chula Vista Police Department, Drug Enforcement
Administration, and Bureau of Prisons assisted HSI with this case.
- HSI Newark (New Jersey),
the Union County Prosecutor's Office and the Essex County Prosecutor's
Office arrested Crips associates Olufemi Odeyemi and Brenda Jackson on
April 7 the for possession and distribution of heroin in Irvington, New
Jersey. Search warrants of Jackson’s vehicle and Odeyemi’s residence yielded
2.8 kilograms of raw heroin.
About Operation Community Shield
Project New Dawn is the latest example of ICE’s ongoing efforts, begun in
2005 under Operation Community
Shield, to target violent gang members and their associates, eradicate the
violence they inflict upon our communities and stop the cash flow to
transnational organized crime groups. Since 2005, HSI special agents working in
conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have made
more than 47,000 gang-related arrests.
Operation
Community Shield is a global initiative in which HSI collaborates with federal,
state and local law enforcement partners to combat the growth and proliferation
of transnational criminal street gangs, prison gangs and outlaw motorcycle
gangs in the United States and abroad. Through its domestic and international
Operation Community Shield task forces, HSI leverages its worldwide presence
and expansive statutory and civil enforcement authorities to mitigate the
threats posted by these global networks, often through the tracing and seizing
of cash, weapons and other illicit proceeds.
Partnerships
with state, local, federal and international law enforcement agencies are
critical to the success of HSI gang enforcement operations. Law enforcement
partners provide actionable intelligence which is critical in the targeting of
gangs and their membership for enforcement actions. HSI special agents use
intelligence gathered from surge operations to pursue complex criminal
enterprise investigations and federal prosecutions.
MS-13
As
part of Operation Community Shield, HSI
has effected more than 4,300 criminal arrests and nearly 3,000 civil
immigration arrests of MS-13 leaders, members and associates, including
criminal arrests for Racketeering Influence Corrupt Organizations (RICO),
Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) and gang conspiracy violations
investigated by HSI Baltimore, HSI DC, HSI Charlotte, HSI New York, HSI Long
Island, HSI Newark, HSI Boston, HSI San Francisco, HSI San Jose, HSI Los
Angeles, HSI Detroit, HSI Nashville, HSI Houston, and our state and local law
enforcement partners.
In
October 2012, HSI worked with the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of
Foreign Assets Control to designate MS-13 as the first transnational criminal
street gang as a TCO. As a result of the designation, any property or property
interests in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons
in which MS-13 has an interest, are blocked.
HSI’s National Gang Unit
HSI’s
National Gang Unit oversees HSI’s expansive transnational gang portfolio and
enables special agents to bring the fight to these criminal enterprises through
the development of uniform enforcement and intelligence-sharing strategies.
Recent
NGU-led operations have included: Southern
Tempest in 2011, targeting gangs affiliated with drug trafficking; Project
Nefarious in 2012, targeting gangs involved in human smuggling and
trafficking; Project
Southbound in 2014, targeting the Sureños, the fasting growing
transnational gang in the U.S., Project
Wildfire in 2015, and Project
Shadowfire in 2016.
To
report suspicious activity, call ICE's 24-hour toll-free hotline at:
1-866-DHS-2-ICE or visit www.ice.gov.
|
