Thread: Federal agents arrest gang suspects in Grand Island

Federal agents arrest gang suspects in Grand Island
Published: Thursday, November 18, 2010 11:50 AM CST
GRAND ISLAND (AP) — Federal agents have made a series of gang-related drugs and weapons arrests in Grand Island.

An FBI advisory issued Thursday says numerous people were arrested early Thursday as part of a multi-agency operation involving 120 federal and local law enforcement officers.

Federal charges include narcotics trafficking and firearms violations. State charges have also been filed, including those under a new Nebraska law intended to combat gang recruitment.


The FBI and federal immigration officials were to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon to release more details of the arrests.

It was unclear from the advisory how many people had been arrested.

The city of about 50,000 has seen an increase in gang-related violence in recent years. In January, a 15-year-old student was shot at a Grand Island home in what was believed to have been a gang-related altercation.

Rumors of gang-retaliation following the shooting swept through the city, prompting police to station officers carrying AR-15 assault rifles at Grand Island High School entrances to reassure students and parents.

Earlier this year, Hall County Attorney Mark Young estimated there were fewer than 100 gang members in the city.

Associated Press writer Margery A. Beck in Omaha contributed to this report.

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 641982.txt

12 arrested, 2 more sought in federal arrests
Associated Press
Posted on November 18, 2010 at 11:31 AM

Updated today at 1:07 PM

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — An FBI news release says federal and state officials have arrested 12 people and are seeking two others in a combined operation targeting suspected members of a local gang with international ties.

Fourteen people have been indicted on a combination of federal and state drug trafficking and firearms offenses, as well as a new Nebraska law intended to combat gang recruitment.

Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in St. Paul, Minn., says the effort included some 60 FBI agents and about 20 Homeland Security investigators within ICE.

Neudauer says those arrested before dawn Thursday are members of the East Side Locos gang and are believed to have ties to violent international gangs.

http://www.kens5.com/news/national/108975829.html

Details: 12 arrested on drug and gun trafficking charges
By Amy Schweitzer
amy.schweitzer@theindependent.com
Published: Thursday, November 18, 2010 3:36 PM CST
Twelve allegedly violent gang members were taken off the streets of Grand Island Thursday.

fbi arrests in gi
Twelve People Arrested, Two at Large
Nov 18, 2010 | 14:26

Starting at 6:30 a.m., a FBI Safe Streets Task Force arrested nine people who had been federally indicted on drug and gun trafficking charges, according to Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the Omaha office of the FBI. It also performed six state search warrants.


Arrested were Jose "Hoser" Espinoza, 31; Luis "Juicy" Cruz, 30; Joseph "Sadness" Pecor, 24; Hugo "Big Happy" Galaviz, 22; Anthony "Maniac" Holroyd, 20; Herman Pacheco, 26; Raymond "Estilo" Caseres, 18; Gilbert "O.G." Ontivernos, 33; Eddy Cervantes, 24, Ricky Amador, 18; Jose Alcorta, 20; and Jose Hernandez, 32.

Adrian Caseres, 18, and Andrew Esquitin, 22, remain at large and are considered fugitives.

At a press conference Thursday, Dun explained that 120 law enforcement officers from state, local and federal agencies conducted "coordinated arrests simultaneously" in and around the Grand Island area. The officers were from 16 different agencies.

Dun said Esquitin and Adrian Caseres are considered fugitives and they are seeking the public's assistance to locate these individuals.

"I want to emphasize that should anyone have information about the whereabouts of these two individuals, or if anyone believes they have encountered or seen these individuals we want them to call the Grand Island Police Department," he said, adding that it was important that the public not try to apprehend or confront these men.

Dun said the arrests were the result of an investigation by the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force into the East Side Locos gang.

The investigation was code named "Pier Pressure," chosen in recognition that Pier Park "had virtually been overrun by gangs and was rife with gang criminal activity and gang presence," Dun said.

He said the investigation focused on crimes of violence and drug trafficking in and near the park.

"The goal was to put enough pressure on the gangs so that hopefully we can restore Pier Park to the use of the honest and law abiding citizens of Grand Island," Dun said.

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 643666.txt


Also Related to this article:

Feds Nab Drug Gang Suspects in Nebraska

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... 06#1140206

12 arrested, 2 more sought in federal arrests
Associated Press
Posted on November 18, 2010 at 1:38 PM

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A massive effort carried out by 120 federal and state officials before dawn Thursday led to the arrest of 12 suspected members of a local gang with international ties, according to an FBI news release.

Two other people were still being sought by authorities by Thursday afternoon, the release said. They and the 12 arrested have been indicted on a combination of federal and state drug trafficking and firearms offenses, as well as a new Nebraska law intended to combat gang recruitment.

"Transnational gangs overrun some communities through fear, intimidation and ruthless acts of violence," said Mike Feinberg, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations. "The criminal enterprises these gangs represent destabilize our communities and our everyday lives."

Shawn Neudauer, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement based in St. Paul, Minn., says the effort included some 60 FBI agents and about 20 Homeland Security investigators within ICE. Among them were FBI agents from Nebraska and Kansas City, Mo., as well as Homeland Security investigators from Nebraska and Minnesota.

Neudauer said those arrested are members of the East Side Locos gang and are believed to have ties to violent international gangs.

The arrests and indictments are part of two federal operations: the FBI's anti-crime initiative, Operation Safe Streets, and Operation Community Shield, an ongoing national ICE effort to target foreign-born violent gang members.

The FBI and federal Homeland Security officials planned to answer questions about the arrests later Thursday at a news conference. Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken and Hall County Attorney Mark Young were scheduled to participate in the news conference.

Grand Island has had trouble with gang violence in recent years, highlighted in January when a 15-year-old student was shot at a home in the city in what was believed to have been a gang-related altercation. Rumors of gang retaliation following the shooting swept through the city, prompting police to station officers carrying AR-15 assault rifles at Grand Island High School entrances to reassure students and parents.

Several other shootings in recent years also are believed to have been related to an increase in gang members in the meatpacking city that lies along Interstate 80 about 125 miles west of Omaha.

Earlier this year, Young — the county attorney — estimated there were fewer than 100 gang members in the city.

Sarah Gregory of Grand Island said the city that she grew up in seems more dangerous than it was when she was a child. Gregory, who works as a convenience store clerk on the west side of downtown, believes crime and violence in her hometown have worsened in the last couple years.

"I don't know where it all came from," said Gregory, whose father used to be a police officer in Grand Island. "When I was little, I used to walk to school every day. I can't see my parents doing that today."

Joel Hoffman, 60, a semiretired manufacturing worker, said he's lived in Grand Island for nearly 50 years, and is glad to see federal officials going after suspected gang members. Hoffman said he hears about some sort of gang-related incident about once a month.

"The east side of Grand Island is maybe not a nice place to be at night," he said. "Nothing good can happen from these gangs."

___

Associated Press writer Margery A. Beck in Omaha contributed to this report.

http://www.wwltv.com/news/national/108975829.html

12 Grand Island men arrested on gang-related charges
By Amy Schweitzer
amy.schweitzer@theindependent.com
Published: Friday, November 19, 2010 8:41 AM CST
Twelve allegedly violent gang members were taken off the streets of Grand Island Thursday.

Starting at 6:30 a.m., an FBI Safe Streets Task Force arrested nine people who had been federally indicted on drug and gun trafficking charges, according to Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the Omaha office of the FBI. It also performed six state search warrants and arrested three people on state charges.

Arrested Thursday were Jose "Hoser" Espinoza, 31; Luis "Juicy" Cruz, 30; Joseph "Sadness" Pecor, 24; Hugo "Big Happy" Galaviz, 22; Anthony "Maniac" Holroyd, 20; Herman Pacheco, 26; Raymond "Estilo" Caseres, 18; Gilbert "O.G." Ontivernos, 33; Eddy "Money" Cervantes, 24; Ricky Amador, 18; Jose Alcorta, 20; and Jose Hernandez, 32.





Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Omaha office, announces at a news conference in Grand Island Thursday that federal and state officials have arrested 12 people and are seeking two others in a combined operation targeting suspected members of a local gang. (The Associated Press/Nati Harnik)

Adrian Caseres, 18, and Andrew Esquitin, 22, remain at large and are considered fugitives.

At a press conference Thursday, Dun explained that 120 law enforcement officers from state, local and federal agencies conducted "coordinated arrests simultaneously" in and around the Grand Island area. The officers were from 16 different agencies.

Dun said Esquitin and Adrian Caseres are considered fugitives and they are seeking the public's assistance to locate these individuals.

"I want to emphasize that should anyone have information about the whereabouts of these two individuals, or if anyone believes they have encountered or seen these individuals, we want them to call the Grand Island Police Department," he said, adding that it is important that the public not try to apprehend or confront these men.

Dun said the arrests were the result of an investigation by the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force into the East Side Locos gang.

The investigation was code named "Pier Pressure," chosen in recognition that Pier Park "had virtually been overrun by gangs and was rife with gang criminal activity and gang presence," Dun said.

He said the investigation focused on crimes of violence and drug trafficking in and near the park.

"The goal was to put enough pressure on the gangs so that hopefully we can restore Pier Park to the use of the honest and law-abiding citizens of Grand Island," Dun said.

He also said the FBI and partnering agencies are focused on violence and crime, but they need the help of the citizens of Central Nebraska.

"We cannot do it alone," Dun said. "We need the citizens of the communities to be willing to report information regarding crimes and report information as to who they think is behind those crimes.

"With the help of the citizens, we are committed to focus on violence and gang crime," he said.

Dun said he didn't want those involved in "organized violent gang activity" in the city to think Thursday's arrests created a void and opportunity to move into an area where somebody has been taken off the streets.

"I want to assure those who are involved in organized violent gang activity, if you persist in those crimes, the crosshairs of justice will eventually be focused upon you," he said. "We will find you through aggressive investigation, we will fix you by developing evidence of your crimes and we will finish you by aggressive prosecution."

The nine federally charged arrests are for drug and gun trafficking including, for Pecor, three counts of drug trafficking and 11 counts of firearms trafficking; for Espinoza, three counts of drug trafficking and two counts of firearms trafficking; for Galaviz, one count of drug trafficking and five counts of firearms trafficking; for Pacheco, two counts of drug trafficking and one count of possession of firearms; for Ontivernos, one count of drug trafficking and one count of possession of firearms; for Raymond Casares, one count of drug trafficking; for Cruz, one count of firearms trafficking; and for Holroyd, one count of possession of firearms.

Cervantes, Amador and Alcorta were arrested on state charges of "unlawful recruitment into an illegal organization," said Hall County Attorney Mark Young. He said it is a new law in Nebraska as of 2009 and this may be one of the first cases to use the law.

"The unlawful recruitment statute makes it illegal to engage in activities to engage, coerce or intimidate or otherwise get someone to join a group, which is engaged in criminal activity," he said, adding that the three men allegedly recruited a 13-year-old into the East Side Locos gang.

Police Chief Steve Lamken said gang members seemed to be involved disproportionately in the street crime in Grand Island.

A search warrant was also served on Hernandez, who was charged with four separate counts of distribution of controlled substances, including two for marijuana and two for cocaine.

The arrests and indictments were the culmination of an investigation that has been ongoing for almost two years.

Dun said the coordination was "truly unprecedented" in size and scope.

He also announced the official formation of the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force. It is an enhancement of the former Tri-Cities Drug Task Force founded in 1992 that has concentrated on combating the most serious of drug crimes in the Tri-Cities, Dun said.

This year, the task force has focused on "organized criminal enterprises engaged in violence," Dun said.

As part of Safe Streets, the FBI helps organize, fund and support task forces that are focused on violent gang crimes. The FBI provides federal deputization for state and local officers, allowing them to have the authority of a federal agent and powers of federal laws and a federal grand jury behind them.

Dun said the task force already has completed important work.

"Acts of violence have been prevented, guns have been taken off the streets, and drugs have been taken off the streets," he said.

Mike Feinberg, acting special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security investigations, said Thursday's arrests were a "significant step toward dismantling one of the most violent street organizations in Nebraska, one of the largest street organizations Grand Island has ever seen."

He said Grand Island is safer today.

"Transnational gangs overrun some communities through fear, intimidation and ruthless acts of violence," Feinberg said.

Law enforcement didn't want to comment specifically on the East Side Locos gang or other gangs in Grand Island, including whether they have ties to gangs in other towns, states or countries, because the investigation is still ongoing.

However, Dun said that historically the Grand Island gangs have had ties to some southern California gangs.

Young said Thursday's arrests were really just the beginning of the process.

"We're not going away," he said. "We're going to keep on top of criminal activity."

"Today is a good step on taking care of the leadership (of the gangs), which has always been our focus," Young said. "Our next step is to continue to disrupt activities from this group or any other group that may be operating in town."

Arrested Thursday:

Jose "Hoser" Espinoza, 31, 1405 W. North Front St.

Luis "Juicy" Cruz, 30, 417 E. Fifth Street

Joseph "Sadness" Pecor, 24, 319 S. Walnut, #209

Hugo "Big Happy" Galaviz, 22, 518 E. Capital Ave.

Anthony "Maniac" Holroyd, 20, 111 N. Madison St.

Herman "Ben Davis" Pacheco, 26, 409 E. Fifth St.

Raymond "Estilo" Caseres, 18, 1110 E. Sixth St.

Gilbert "O.G." Ontivernos, 33, Hall County

Eddy "Money" Cervantes, 24, 416 N. Wheeler

Ricky Amador, 18, 519 E. 12th St.

Jose Alcorta, 20, 415 S. Cherry St.

Jose Hernandez, 32, 1204 N. Vine St.

Still at Large:

Adrian Caseres, 18, 1110 E. Sixth St.

Andrew Esquitin, 22, 139 Melody Lane

If you know the whereabouts of these fugitives, call Grand Island Police Department at (30 385- 5400

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 644591.txt

Two gang fugitives arrested
By Sarah Schulz
sarah.schulz@theindependent.com
Published: Friday, November 19, 2010 8:41 AM CST
Grand Island police have arrested two men wanted in connection with Thursday's large-scale gang-related arrest sweep.

Andrew Esquitin, 22, of 139 Melody Lane, and Adrian Casares, 18, 1110 E. Sixth St., were taken into custody at 9:20 last night at 15th Street and Broadwell Avenue, according to a press release from the Police Department.

The men were wanted as part of "Operation Pier Pressure," an investigation focused on crimes of violence and drug trafficking occurring in or near Pier Park.

Photos of the fugitives hang on the wall during the press conference Thursday afternoon.

Police received an anonymous call that Esquitin and Casares were seen in the area near State and Broadwell in north central Grand Island. A vehicle was located and stopped by officers and the men were taken into custody without incident, according to police.

They are being held in the Hall County Jail for felony unlawful recruitment into a gang.

Nine other men were arrested Thursday at 6:30 a.m. by an FBI Safe Streets Task Force. Three other men were arrested on state charges.

Arrested Thursday were Jose "Hoser" Espinoza, 31; Luis "Juicy" Cruz, 30; Joseph "Sadness" Pecor, 24; Hugo "Big Happy" Galaviz, 22; Anthony "Maniac" Holroyd, 20; Herman Pacheco, 26; Raymond "Estilo" Casares, 18; Gilbert "O.G." Ontivernos, 33; Eddy "Money" Cervantes, 24; Ricky Amador, 18; Jose Alcorta, 20; and Jose Hernandez, 32. All the men are from either Grand Island or Hall County.

At a press conference Thursday, Weysan Dun, special agent in charge of the Omaha FBI office, explained that 120 law enforcement officers from state, local and federal agencies conducted "coordinated arrests simultaneously" in and around the Grand Island area. The officers were from 16 different agencies.

Dun said the arrests were the result of an investigation by the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force into the East Side Locos gang.

http://www.theindependent.com/articles/ ... 647274.txt