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More than 1,700 violent gang members rounded up in nationwide sweep
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Federal authorities reported Thursday that dozens of violent gang members, taken into custody in North County and San Diego earlier this summer, were part of a nationwide, six-month operation targeting street gangs mostly made up of foreign-born members,
According to federal officials, 1,785 people have been taken into custody as part of “Operation Community Shield,” which ended recently. The gang sweep is being labeled as the largest-ever nationwide gang surge.
A number of those arrests were conducted in San Marcos, Vista, Escondido, Poway and San Diego in June.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 39 gang members tied to 19 local street gangs and one participant of a Los Angeles gang.
Authorities indicated that a number of those arrested in the local area had prior convictions on weapons and domestic violence charges. Some of those taken into custody were prosecuted on new charges, including drug offenses and violations of gang injunctions.
Close to 300 gang members and associates across the Los Angeles area were arrested as part of the crackdown.
The nationwide sweep was undertaken in 89 cities, with authorities saying more than one third of those arrested had violent criminal histories and 16 are gang leaders.
According to Virginia Kice, spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “The goal of Community Shield isn’t to just take individual gang members off the streets, but to disrupt the cycle of crime and dismantle the entire gang."
Hopefully these types of operations will continue across the country in an effort to make our streets just a little safer.
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