http://www.nbc4.tv/news/7885837/detail.html

LA, Anaheim Raids Net 28 Alleged Gang Members
Most Of The Suspects Are Expected To Be Deported

POSTED: 12:57 pm PST March 10, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Raids in Los Angeles and Orange counties netted 28 suspected foreign-born gang members, most of whom will be deported, authorities announced Friday.

The federal and local operation rounded up nine suspects in Los Angeles and 19 in Anaheim, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Among those arrested in the Los Angeles area was a 40-year-old member of the Armenian Power street gang, whose criminal record includes past convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, ICE reported.

Those arrested in Anaheim included a 20-year-old gang member convicted of kidnapping for ranson and extortion. All 19 of the Anaheim suspects are Mexican nationals.

Four of the gang members arrested during the Anaheim operation will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for re-entering the United States after a deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Most of the suspects are expected to be deported, officials said.

"For years, the U.S. Attorney's Office, in conjunction with ICE, has worked to take dangerous criminal aliens off the streets," said U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang. "Those who routinely flout American laws by sneaking into the country and then committing crimes that often impact members of their own ethnic group deserve to be punished."

In San Diego County, Operation Community Shield rounded up 41 suspects, who also are to be deported.

The two-month enforcement effort that concluded yesterday was part of Operation Community Shield, a joint operation involving ICE agents and local law enforcement officers.

Operation Community Shield was launched nationwide in February 2005 after ICE officials targeted MS-13, one of the largest and most violent street gangs in the country, and found that most of the gang members were in the country illegally.

In May 2005, ICE expanded the operation to include all criminal street gangs and prison gangs with foreign-born members, ICE officials said.

The nationwide operation so far has netted 2,388 suspected street gang members and associates, and the seizure of about 117 guns, the federal agency reported.