Dozens of suspected foreign-born gang members arrested in North Texas

Posted Monday, Jul. 19, 2010
By Nathaniel Jones

njones@star-telegram.com

Nearly 40 alleged gang members from the Arlington and Fort Worth area were arrested last week during the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s five-day operation that targeted foreign-born gang members and their associates, authorities said Monday.

The arrests include members of at least 29 gangs in the Metroplex, including several with ties to Arlington and Fort Worth.

Some 105 people, including gang members from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, were arrested in the sting that ended Saturday, ICE officials said. Six of those arrested were women.

ICE officials have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference in Irving to talk about the arrests.

Some of the gang members were either arrested for or suspected in various crimes, including home-invasion robberies, drive-by shootings, aggravated robbery, aggravated assaults and drug possessions, officials said.

Officials also seized two firearms, cash, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines and hydrocodone.

Information collected during the sting indicates that criminal gangs are becoming increasingly involved in drug smuggling and distributing, money laundering, and other illegal activities, authorities said.

Police from Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, Carrollton, Irving and Farmers Branch as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Dallas County District Attorney's Office assisted in last week’s operations.

Seventy-two people were arrested on criminal warrants or charges; 33 were taken into custody by ICE on immigration violations.

Following is the breakdown by city where the arrests took place:

Dallas: 57

Fort Worth: 19

Arlington: 17

Carrollton: 5

Irving: 4

Farmers Branch: 2

Lake Worth, 1.

Nathaniel Jones, 817-390-7742

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