Federal agents worked with local and state law enforcement partners to arrest 1,133 people as part of the so-called Project Shadowfire, the agency said Monday; 239 were foreign nationals from 13 different countries, 915 were regarded as gang members, 1,001 were charged with criminal offenses and 132 were arrested on immigration violations. The operation concluded March 21.
While arrests were made across the country, the Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, El Paso, Texas, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, areas saw the greatest activity.
More than $70,000 in U.S. currency, 150 firearms and more than 44 pounds of narcotics were also seized by agents of HSI, a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement organized under the Department of Homeland Security. "This operation is the latest example of ICE's ongoing efforts, begun more than a decade ago under Operation Community Shield, to target violent gang members and their associates, to eradicate the violence they inflict upon our communities and to stop the cash flow to transnational organized crime groups operating overseas," said ICE Director Sarah R. Saldaña.
More than 40,000 gang-related arrests have been made since 2005.
Homeland Security arrests more than 1,100 in multi-state gang-related operation
The five-week operation headed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, dubbed Project Shadowfire, targeted criminal organizations linked to drug trafficking, murder and racketeering, the agency said in a statement. Of the 1,133 arrested, 915 were cross-border gang members and associates. Just over 1,000 were charged with criminal offenses and the rest face immigration charges, it said.
A majority of those arrested had links to notorious groups such as MS-13, Sureños, Norteños, Bloods and several prison-based gangs. The operation was centered on the Los Angeles; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Atlanta; San Francisco; Houston; and El Paso, Texas areas.
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent inspects an arrested individual's tattoos for signs of gang affiliation, in this U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picture taken in Houston, Texas
While most of those detained were Americans, 239 were nationals from Mexico, Spain, El Salvador, China, Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, Philippines, Belize and other countries. The special agents seized 150 firearms, more than 20 kg of narcotics and more than $70,000 in U.S currency.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has staged similar operations targeting gangs since 2005. Although ICE is an immigration authority, it routinely participates in operations involving U.S. citizens and non-citizens due to its expertise on international crime groups.
U.S. immigration agents bust 1,100 suspects in gang sweep
Zarriel Trotter, 13, was hit in the back by a stray bullet after a fight broke out in his neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and is recovering from surgery, WLS-TV reported. His condition is not known.
Someone pulled out a gun during an argument between two groups and fired a few shots. Trotter, though is not related to either of the groups, was hit in the back. Trotter was the only one injured and police have so far, made no arrests.
Trotter was part of a group of several African-American children and teens who appeared in an anti-gun violence public service video called Black is Human last year. He is also known as a mentor in his school. "I don't want to live around my community where I've got to keep on hearing and hearing: People keep on getting shot, people keep on getting killed," Trotter said in the video.
Elizabeth Jamison-Dunn, principal of Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School, where Trotter attends, called the shooting "disheartening" and said "every morning he greets me with a big smile on his face, which makes my day." By March 26, there have already been 46 shootings in Zarriel's district of Chicago, police said.
Teen from anti-violence video shot by stray bullet
