Thursday, May 11, 2017 | 2:53 p.m.
Federal
agents arrested nearly 1,400 people across the country in what
immigration officials are calling the “largest gang surge” in its
investigative arm’s history, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Acting Director Thomas Homan announced today.
The six-week
operation from March 26 to May 6 netted five arrests in the Las Vegas
area, according to an ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. Four in Las Vegas
were tied to local gangs and the fifth was affiliated with a Chicago
group, she said. She added that three were arrested on criminal charges
and two on non-criminal immigration violations.
A majority of the arrests — 933 out of the 1,378 — are U.S. citizens, officials said.
“Gangs
threaten the safety of our communities, not just in major metropolitan
areas but in our suburbs and rural areas, too,” Homan said in a
statement. “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.”
The national efforts
resulted in 1,378 arrests: 1,098 on state and federal charges, including
21 on murder-related charges and seven on rape and sexual assault
counts, officials said.
The operation targeted gang members and
their associates in cases on “transnational criminal activity,”
including suspected drug traffickers, weapons smugglers, sex
traffickers, and murder and racketeering suspects, officials said.
Out
of the 1,095 confirmed gang members and gang-affiliated suspects, 137
were linked to the Bloods gang, 104 with the Crips, 118 with the Sureños
group and 104 with the MS-13 gang, officials said. The Sureños and
MS-13 originated in Southern California.
Three of the people in
custody previously had Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
protection, officials said. Out of the 10 who immigrated illegally as
children, nine were confirmed gang members.
About half a million dollars and 238 firearms were seized, officials said.
In
an operation in San Antonio, Texas, agents found cocaine,
methamphetamine, heroin, four guns, and confiscated $48,000 in cash,
officials said. In San Diego, they found 17 firearms, meth, marijuana
and over $25,000 cash.
About 933 were U.S. citizens and 445 are
foreign nationals from 21 countries in South and Central America, Asia,
Africa, Europe and the Caribbean, officials said.
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