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MS-13

Fourteen criminal aliens with ties to violent street gangs are in custody following a three-week operation involving federal agents and detectives from the Salt Lake Area Gang Project. Eight of the arrests occurred Friday; six of the suspects were taken into custody earlier this month.

The suspected foreign national gang members and their associates are all from Mexico. Three of the individuals had prior criminal records, including theft, assault and drug violations. All of the foreign nationals arrested have been placed in formal immigration removal proceedings.

The multi-agency operation targeted foreign national gang members and gang associates in Salt Lake County.

“Street gangs pose a growing public safety threat to communities throughout this area,” said Joseph Romel, assistant special agent in charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Utah.

“The violence, sophistication, and scope of these organizations have reached intolerable levels. This operation shows how ICE is working with its law enforcement partners and leveraging its broad authorities to dismantle these criminal organizations.”

Since its launch one year ago, Operation Community Shield has resulted in the arrest of 2,388 members of 239 different gangs. More than 40 of those subjects were arrested in Utah.

Operation Community Shield was launched in February 2005 after a threat assessment by all ICE field offices identified MS-13 as one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country. The assessment found that most of the gang members were foreign-born, in the United States illegally, had prior criminal convictions, and/or were involved in crimes that made them subject to ICE’s broad immigration and customs authorities.

ICE kicked off Operation Community Shield with an enforcement operation that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 members of MS-13. In the months that followed, ICE agents nationwide joined ranks and continued targeting MS-13 members in their jurisdictions. In May 2005, ICE expanded Operation Community Shield to include all criminal street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members.

http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/13366.html
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Police repeat: MS-13 gang not in Georgetown

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060325/NEWS/603250322/-1/NEWS01