Thread: S.C.-Suspected Gang Members, Illegal Aliens Detained

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Suspected Gang Members, Illegal Aliens Detained
(Orangeburg) - Seven suspected gang members are in custody and face deportation after they were detained in Orangeburg this week.



Body markings on one of the suspects arrested during a crackdown on a local gang.


Law enforcement officials in Orangeburg say the seven are associated with one of the most violent gangs in this country - Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Capt. Rene Williams with the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department says two of the seven people were arrested after an assault on an Orangeburg Dept. of Public Safety officer on January 28th.

Williams says the arrests eventually led officers to the other men. One was arrested during a traffic stop, the other four at a home on Dudley Drive.

Residents living in the area say they're not surprised the men were caught.

"People said they were selling drugs. We weren't sure about that, but we know about the gang they were in and we know about the guns they carry," says one woman, who has family ties to the men and wished to remain anonymous.

"I know they're relation to us, but we don't need that in our neighborhood. We've got small children, we have pregnant women and I'm glad they're gone," she says.

Capt. Williams says all of the men are illegal aliens from Honduras. The men have been taken to Charleston where they await deportation back to Honduras.

MS-13 — is known as one of the most violent gangs in the U.S. It was started two decades ago in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador.

I'm glad they're gone," she says.

They'll be back and bring more with them. Taxpayers are only paying for their two week vacation.