Thread: Gang crackdown nets nearly 400 arrests

Gang crackdown nets nearly 400 arrests

Sweep to reduce drug smuggling, human trafficking







































Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



Posted: 07/23/2013
Last Updated: 2 hours ago

SAN DIEGO - Nearly 400 people were jailed over the weekend during a crackdown on San Diego-area gangs involved in serious cross-border crime, authorities announced Monday.

Local, state and federal law enforcement personnel made the arrests Friday night and early Saturday morning during the fourth staging of a sweep designed to reduce drug smuggling, human trafficking and other illicit activities committed by transnational criminal organizations, according to the county Sheriff's Department.

During the effort, dubbed Operation Allied Shield IV, more than 1,000 officers conducted parole and probation checks and traffic stops, served search warrants to locate prolific gang offenders and seized stashes of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine.

Among the felony arrests, 36 were for outstanding warrants and 44 were for parole and probation violations.

The sweep, which focused on areas in the southern and eastern reaches of the county, was funded by a $5.5 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security, according to sheriff's officials.

The program began in 2010, prompted by intelligence showing that transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican drug cartels, had enlisted the assistance of gangs in the United States to further their operations.

http://www.10news.com/news/gang-crackdown-nets-nearly-400-arrests-07222013

Hundreds nabbed in gang, drug sweep

By Debbi Baker4:28 p.m.July 22, 2013

Sheriff's deputies temporarily detain a man as they search his Allied Gardens home as part of a Allied Shield IV, an effort to arrest gang and drug suspects. — Hayne Palmour IV
Nearly 375 suspected criminals were arrested, two marijuana grows were disrupted and almost $500,000 worth of drugs were seized in a countywide law enforcement effort targeting drug offenders and gangs over the weekend.

The Sheriff’s Department spearheaded the operation, called Allied Shield IV, on Friday and Saturday nights. It involved 1,047 law enforcement officers from local, state and federal police agencies.

Undersheriff Ed Prendergast said the goal of the show of force was to locate gang members, check on those on probation and parole, and to find and remove criminals from the streets. “It allows us to focus on the most prolific offenders,” Prendergast said.

Law enforcement targeted gang members who support Mexican drug cartels in the transportation and distribution of narcotics in the U.S., and who facilitate the storage and shipment of contraband, weapons and cash into Mexico.

• Operation Allied Shield
  
  

◅ Previous|Next ▻
View Gallery

Share Gallery

• 
• 
• ✉

• A man arrested during Operation Allied Shield, a county wide sweep of parolees and gang members by multiple law enforcement agencies, is brought to the command center set up at Spring Valley Elementary School on Friday, July 19, 2013. 372 ... — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A team of Sheriff's detectives look at a picture of their next target, a 48-year-old male parolee, as they stage before going to the man's home during Operation Allied Shield in Santee. — Hayne Palmour IV
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A convoy of Sheriff's vehicles head toward their next target. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A team of Sheriff's detectives approach the front door of their next target, a 48-year-old male parolee, in Santee. — Hayne Palmour IV
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A Sheriff's detectives handcuffs a 48-year-old male parolee during Operation Allied Shield in Santee on Friday. The man was arrested after drug paraphernalia was found in his home. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A Sheriff's detectives handcuffs a 48-year-old male parolee in Santee. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A Sheriff's detective enters the home of a 48-year-old male parolee while he stands handcuffed outside in Santee. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A team of Sheriff's detectives and Border Patrol agents approach a home where they will check on male and female parolee in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A team of Sheriff's detectives and Border Patrol agents enter a home of a male and female parolee in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A team of Sheriff's detectives temporarily detain a man as they search his home where a male and female parolee live in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A man waits for a team of Sheriff's detectives to search his home where a male and female parolee live in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A 34-year-old female parolee is arrested for possession of drugs and taken to a Sheriff's vehicle in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A 34-year-old female parolee is arrested for possession of drugs and taken to a Sheriff's vehicle in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• After arresting a female parolee for drugs, a team of Sheriff's detectives plan their next move while standing under a street light in Allied Gardens. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• Individuals arrested during Operation Allied Shield are brought to the operation command center for booking. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A 34-year-old woman parolee arrested for drugs during Operation Allied Shield waits to be booked at the command center. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A man arrested during Operation Allied Shield waits to be booked. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• The drugs and drug paraphernalia found in a female parolee's home is put on a table at the Operation Allied Shield command center at Spring Valley Elementary School. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A picture is taken of drugs and drug paraphernalia found in a female parolee's home while at the Operation Allied Shield command center at Spring Valley Elementary School. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��
• A woman arrested during Operation Allied Shield sits at the booking table. — Hayne Palmour IV / UT San Diego
  
  Go to Photo ��

◅▻

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

◅▻



Street gangs spawn more crime as rivals fight among themselves, said sheriff’s Cmdr. Dave Myers.

That results in shootings, home-invasion robberies, kidnappings and other crimes that endanger law-abiding residents, Myers said.


“The spillover of gang violence threatens our schools, it threatens our kids, it threatens our safe and secure neighborhoods, where we go to the movies, where we shop, where we play,“ Myers said.

Of those caught in the sweep, 34 were documented gang members and 14 were gang associates. At least 64 other gang members and associates were identified, sheriff’s officials said.

On Friday night, from an East County command post, sheriff’s Sgt. Jack Reynolds headed out with two teams of officers from the Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Border Patrol, a police dog, and an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office.

Reynolds, one of the leaders of the sheriff’s Border Crime Suppression Team, said a list of 579 targets had been compiled as part of the operation. In all, 372 arrests were made over two days, mostly criminals on probation or parole.

Reynolds’ teams visited houses in Santee, Allied Gardens and Spring Valley, and they arrested four people after finding narcotics including heroin, methamphetamine, illegal prescriptions drugs as well as paraphernalia and stolen merchandise.

Just after sundown, a caravan of eight law enforcement vehicles pulled up to an Allied Gardens home on Seamen Street.

As the resident’s pit bull barked furiously from the backyard, detectives searched the cluttered home and garage where they found heroin and other drugs, used sheets of foil with heroin residue, pipes, a homemade firecracker, baggies, and a scale. Soda cans and a fake dictionary that had been converted into concealable drug containers also were found.

Neighbors who stood in front of their houses said they were glad to see the law enforcement activity at the unkempt home.

A 34-year-old woman on probation who lived at the house was taken into custody on charges of drug possession and possession with intent to sell, Reynolds said.
She and the others arrested were taken to three command posts, one in the North County, one at Qualcomm Stadium and another in Spring Valley, where they waited before being booked and transported to jail on sheriff’s buses.

The effort netted 79 narcotics seizures, nine guns, several knives, $5,680 in cash and one car. Besides marijuana, the narcotics confiscated were heroin, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, and several pharmaceuticals including oxycodone and Xanax.

The operation was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under its Operation Stonegarden grant. Since 2008, the grant has awarded almost $48 million to California to allow law enforcement to collaborate and focus on border-related crime. This year’s allocation was $5.5 million, Prendergast said.

“Anytime we take criminals off the streets, it makes the community safer and that’s our ultimate goal,” he said.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/22/allied-shield-gang-drug-sweep/