Massive Federal Operation Captures Over 20 Dangerous MS-13 Gang Members
The role of federal law enforcement has come under great scrutiny lately, but an operation in California just showed how important the Department of Homeland Security can be.
Over 20 gang members that belong to the infamous Mara Salvatrucha group — better known as MS-13 — were just arrested on multiple charges on Friday.
“The charges included assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances,” reported The Washington Examiner.
It wasn’t that long ago that President Donald Trump came under fire for saying that MS-13 members were “animals,” and alluding to serious crimes like kidnapping and rape from suspects moving across the border.
Those statements sent the left into an outrage, but the recent bust seems to justify those like to president who are concerned about the rise of MS-13.
“Additionally, two MS-13 members were also charged with with kidnapping and murder in aid of racketeering, and three others were charged with conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, according to two federal indictments,” continued The Examiner.
Over half a dozen guns and over 60 knives and machetes were also collected during the operation.
Special Agent in Charge Ryan Spradlin, who headed the Homeland Security investigation, had stern words for participants in hardened gangs like Mara Salvatrucha.
“Global criminal organizations like the MS-13 strike fear into our local communities here in the United States by committing violent and often brutal crimes in our backyards; but by all levels of law enforcement working together, their vicious and dangerous acts will not go unpunished,” he warned.
He made it clear that federal operatives would not back down in the fight against those criminal groups, even in the midst of political complaints from different sides.
“While transnational gangs may have tentacles that reach globally, Homeland Security Investigations does as well and is well‑equipped to intercept these threats to our national security,” Special Agent Spradlin continued.
That agent’s counterpart at the FBI field office in Sacramento echoed the sentiment.
“The FBI is committed to aggressively investigating and disrupting gang activity,” said Special Agent Sean Ragan.
“Through the Safe Streets Task Force and the Transnational Anti-Gang Initiative, the FBI leverages resources to target MS-13 — the first and only street gang to be designated by the U.S. government as a transnational criminal organization — by focusing on the gang’s structure and leadership,” the top cop explained.
Many prominent voices among Democrats have called for Homeland Security agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be disbanded, while others have attacked people like Trump for saying that not all border-crossers are good people.
How anybody looks at MS-13 and isn’t appalled that the gang holds power in the United States is a mystery, but there are now a few dozen fewer thugs on the streets thanks to federal law enforcement. At least it’s a start.
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