U.S. arrests 678 gang members affiliated with drug trafficking organizations

U.S. arrests 678 gang members affiliated with drug trafficking organizations

2011-03-02 01:40:50 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on Tuesday announced the arrest of 678 gang members affiliated with drug trafficking organizations (DTO).

Then arrests were made during the Project Southern Tempest operation, which started in December 2010 and culminated in February 2011. The intensive ICE HSI-led law enforcement operation was executed in 168 U.S. cities.

More than 46 percent of the 678 gang members had links with 13 drug trafficking organizations in Mexico. The detainees were members and associates of 133 different U.S. criminal organizations.

During Project Southern Tempest, the ICE HSI-led Salt Lake City Operation Community Shield Task Force arrested the 20,000 gang member since inception of the anti-gang program in 2005.

ICE HSI agents worked side by side with 173 federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Project Southern Tempest was the largest ever ICE-led operation targeting gangs with ties to drug trafficking organizations.

"Through gang enforcement operations like Project Southern Tempest and Project Big Freeze last year, ICE will continue to disrupt and dismantle these transnational gangs and rid our streets not only of drug dealers, but the violence associated with the drug trade," said ICE Director John Morton.

From the 678 arrests, 447 were charged with criminal offenses while 322 had violent criminal records. In addition, 421 suspects were foreign nationals from 24 countries in South and Central America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

Among most prominent criminals detained were Andrey Melnikov, 36, a Russian national associated with California's Valleros gang; Shawn Allison, 32, a Jamaican national and member of the Jamaican Posse gang; Rodimiro Burquez-Cortez, 34, a Mexican national and Surenos gang associate; and Gustavo Morales, 52, a Mexican national and an associate of the Boomerangz gang.

Transnational criminal street gangs have significant numbers of foreign-national members and are frequently involved in human smuggling and trafficking; narcotics smuggling and distribution; identity theft and benefit fraud; money laundering and bulk cash smuggling; weapons smuggling and arms trafficking; cyber crimes; export violations; and other crimes with a nexus to the border.

Project Southern Tempest is part of Operation Community Shield, a global initiative, in which ICE HSI partners with existing federal, state, local and foreign anti-gang efforts to share intelligence and resources to identify, locate, arrest, prosecute, imprison and/or deport transnational gang members.

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