Gang activity is allegedly the cause of millions of crimes annually in the US, including murder, drug trafficking, sex crimes, weapons-related crimes, and human trafficking.
In what is being called a ‘record sweep’, a total of 1,378 people have been arrested for gang related activity all over the country in a coordinated effort by the Federal law enforcement agencies. The operation took a total of six weeks to execute, and will now result in months if not years of court dates and paperwork. However, while the majority of those arrests have no impact on Michigan whatsoever, the fact is that 20 of those people are actually locals.
20 of those arrests took place in Michigan. Specifically, in Detroit and Flint. 13 were members of Detroit-based gangs like the Latin Count, 18th Street, Cheddda Avenue and Surenos. The remaining seven were from Flint, and represented three different gangs in the form of the Spanish Cobras, East Side Crips, and IMOB.
According to a statement released by Homeland Security Investigations‘ Detroit Field Office, the people targeted by the sweep were suspected of being involved in a variety of different illegal activities. These included drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, and racketeering. However, only 1,095 of the people arrested were confirmed as gang members and affiliates. The remaining 280 were allegedly arrested for administrative immigration violations.
The effort was led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations. If it seems strange to you that a sweep like this would be instigated by immigrations and customs agents, it’s because many of the people suspected of gang related activities in the US are actually illegals from other countries. In the recent spate of arrests, a full third of the people taken into custody were foreign nationals from a total of 21 different countries outside of the U.S.
While it may have been ICE that led the effort, there were numerous agencies that participated. In Michigan alone, there were many law enforcement agencies that provided assistance, including:
- U.S. Border Patrol
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Michigan State Police
- Detroit Police Department
- Flint Police Department
The operation, which ran from March 26th to May 6th, is one of the largest coordinated anti-gang efforts ever conducted by law enforcement here in the U.S. Now, in the wake of the arrests, there will be thousands of court dates, and likely, tens of thousands of months spent behind bars. Although no names have been made public, we will continue to watch this story and update you if there are any other interesting developments.
Until then, if you or a loved one have been accused of any gang related activity, including murder, assault, weapons trafficking, drug crimes or sex crimes, you are going to need a highly skilled defense attorney on your side. So call The Kronzek Firm at 866 766 5245. We have decades of experience defending these types of criminal accusations, and can help you achieve the best outcome in your case.