Borderfire Report

by Jim Kouri

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers arrested close to 200 street gang members, gang associates and immigration status violators following a five-day operation which ended Friday, according to a reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police's Organized Crime Committee.

About 116 arrests were made as part of an ongoing initiative called Operation Community Shield. As part of the initiative, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement partnered with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies across the country to target the significant public safety threat posed by transnational street gangs. These gang arrests occurred in the cities of Beaumont, Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas.

The gang members taken into custody during the enforcement action are linked to at least 14 street gangs, including: Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Surenos Trece, Aryan Brotherhood, Latin Kings, La Raza13, Black Disciples, Houstone, Tango Blast, Bloods and Crips to name a few. Three of those arrested possessed firearms at the time of their arrest, which included an assault rifle, a shotgun and a handgun.

Of the 116 total arrests, 80 have known gang affiliations, 60 are being charged with criminal violations; and 13 cases are being referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for re-entry after deportation. The remaining individuals were arrested on administrative immigration violations and will be placed in deportation proceedings. They will be held in ICE custody and scheduled for a deportation hearing before an immigration judge.

In a separate anti-gang operation, law enforcement officers arrested 81 transnational gang members, their associates and immigration status violators in a six-day operation throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex that ended last Saturday night. This is the latest joint local action of an ongoing national ICE effort to target foreign-born violent gang members. More than half of those arrested had outstanding local, state or federal warrants issued on them.

"Street gangs are responsible for a significant amount of crime nationally and locally," said John Chakwin Jr., special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Dallas. "ICE works closely with our local law enforcement partners to identify, locate and arrest these gang members. Ultimately, we remove from the United States those who are deportable."

The operation targeted foreign-born gang members and associates in the following north Texas cities: Arlington, Dallas, Carrollton, Fort Worth, Irving, Lewisville, and Plano. Those foreign-born who were arrested are from the following countries: Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Laos.

Gang members arrested were part of the following street gangs: 15th Street, Southside, 18th Street, Crips, 28th Street, 68th Street (Nuevo Laredo, Mexico), Aryan Brotherhood, Butter Bean Boys, East Side Homeboys, Easy Riders (Los Angeles), Five Deuce Crip, How High Crew, MS-13, Northside Locos, Laotian Oriental Killer Boyz, Mexican Clan Locos, Norteno, Sureno, Tango Blast, True Bud Smokers, Trueman Street Blood, Varrio Diamond Hill, Varrio Northside, and the Zetas, who are former Mexican soldiers, some of whom were trained in the US.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he's the former blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog.  Recently, the editors at Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for NewswithViews.com and News Analyst for Borderfire Report.net.  He's also a columnist for AmericanDailyReview.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

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