The Federal authorities have arrested over 1,000 gang members in its five-week operation. The aim of the bust is to put an end to transnational gangs all over the United States.
The majority of the operation was done on the cities of Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Juan, El Paso and Houston. As reported by Reuters, the majority of those arrested are linked to gangs like MS-13, Nortenos, Bloods and several other prison-based gangs.
The agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE worked hand-in-hand with the local authorities to apprehend 1,133 suspects which include 900 transnational gang members. According to Yahoo News, ICE has been after transnational gang members since the year 2005. But the agency constantly works with operations that involve US citizens and non-citizens because of their expertise in international gangs. According to the data, in the past decade, the agency has apprehended more than 40,000 gang members and seized more than 8,000 firearms.
Peter Edge, the executive associate director of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said their agency involves immigration authority and not just criminal investigative abilities. They also focus on gangs that are illegally staying in the country, as per ABC News.
The program that started last 2005 was led by HSI's National Gang Unit and was called Project Shadow fire in order to fight the growing numbers of transnational gangs. According to reports, these gangs have been more violent and more organized in the country throughout the years.
Edge said their hopes is that this criminal gang members will be given due process on the judicial system and members who are not a citizen of the country will be deported.
During the recent operation, HSI was able to get 150 firearms, more than 20 kilograms of illegal drugs and $70,000 worth of US currency. These gangs are normally associated with criminal activities like human smuggling, drug trafficking, extortion and human trafficking.
