Dallas immigration officers lead sweep in North Texas cities

12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, July 24, 2007
By OCTAVIO RIVERA Al DÃ*a orivera@aldiatx.com

A crime sweep targeting dozens of street gangs has netted 121 members this month, federal authorities say.

The operation, led by Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and various federal agencies and local police departments, resulted in the arrests of 63 people facing criminal charges, including murder and sexual assault. Fifty-eight others were detained for violating immigration laws, officials said.

"This operation was planned and executed with one fundamental target: to provide safety to the people in our community, removing violent street gang members from the streets," said John Chakwin Jr., special agent with the ICE Office of Investigations in Dallas.

Most of the arrests were made in Fort Worth, where 47 gang members were rounded up. Forty-five were arrested in Dallas, 12 in Arlington, nine in Wichita Falls, seven in Irving and one in Gainesville.

ICE said 72 of those arrested are Mexican, 45 are U.S. citizens, two are from El Salvador, one is from Guatemala, and one is from Cambodia. The arrests are part of Operation Community Shield, a national ICE program launched in 2005 to dismantle violent gangs.

Nationally, the initiative has led to the arrest of more than 4,500 members of 532 gangs.

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