NBC4.TV, CA
March 10 2006
LA, Anaheim Raids Net 28 Alleged Gang Members
Most Of The Suspects Are Expected To Be Deported
POSTED: 12:57 pm PST March 10, 2006
LOS ANGELES — Raids in Los Angeles and Orange counties netted 28
suspected foreign-born gang members, most of whom will be deported,
authorities announced Friday.
The federal and local operation rounded up nine suspects in Los
Angeles and 19 in Anaheim, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officials.
Among those arrested in the Los Angeles area was a 40-year-old member
of the Armenian Power street gang, whose criminal record includes
past convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse,
ICE reported.
Those arrested in Anaheim included a 20-year-old gang member
convicted of kidnapping for ranson and extortion. All 19 of the
Anaheim suspects are Mexican nationals.
Four of the gang members arrested during the Anaheim operation will
be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for re-entering the
United States after a deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20
years in prison.
Most of the suspects are expected to be deported, officials said.
“For years, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with ICE, has
worked to take dangerous criminal aliens off the streets,” said U.S.
Attorney Debra Wong Yang. “Those who routinely flout American laws by
sneaking into the country and then committing crimes that often
impact members of their own ethnic group deserve to be punished.”
In San Diego County, Operation Community Shield rounded up 41
suspects, who also are to be deported.
The two-month enforcement effort that concluded yesterday was part of
Operation Community Shield, a joint operation involving ICE agents
and local law enforcement officers.
Operation Community Shield was launched nationwide in February 2005
after ICE officials targeted MS-13, one of the largest and most
violent street gangs in the country, and found that most of the gang
members were in the country illegally.
In May 2005, ICE expanded the operation to include all criminal
street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members, ICE
officials said.
The nationwide operation so far has netted 2,388 suspected street
gang members and associates, and the seizure of about 117 guns, the
federal agency reported.