ICE arrests 14 men in southern Indiana during operation
targeting foreign-born gang members
Agents with the local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in close partnership with other federal, state and local law enforcement partners, arrested 14 foreign-born gang members and gang associates during a two-day operation ending Tuesday. This is the latest joint local action of an ongoing national ICE-HSI effort to target foreign-born members of violent street gangs.
These arrests were made Aug. 9 and 10 in the Indiana communities of Jasper, Huntingburg and Evansville under an initiative by ICE's National Gang Unit dubbed "Operation Community Shield." As part of the initiative, ICE partners with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies across the country to target transnational street gangs and the significant public safety threat they pose.
All 14 men arrested are members or associates of the following violent street gangs: MS-13, Sur-13, and Zoe Pound. Nine are from El Salvador, three are from Mexico, one is from Honduras and one is from Haiti. Twelve are in ICE custody on administrative immigration charges and will be placed into deportation proceedings. Two are in the DuBois County Jail pending local charges. For privacy reasons, ICE does not release the names of those arrested on administrative immigration charges.
During the operation ICE agents seized two semi-automatic handguns, each with two magazines of ammunition. Also seized were two machetes and 300 rounds of ammunition. Many of those arrested have criminal histories in addition to their immigration violations. Some of their arrests and convictions include: battery, resisting arrest, drug dealing, sexual battery, felony intimidations, and aggravated assault with a weapon.
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