Friday, January 23, 2009
More than 20 percent of arrests were made in O.C during Operation Community Shield, officials said.
BY CINDY CARCAMO
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA –Immigration enforcement officials arrested 1,970 suspected gang members last year in the Southern California area as part of an anti-gang effort known as Operation Community Shield, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced today.

More than 20 percent of arrests were made in the Orange County, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice estimated.

"I can tell you that a significant number of these cases involved targets in O.C.," she added.

Officials could not offer specific numbers because they said the federal agency does not track arrests by county except during certain special operations.

Mexican nationals accounted for the majority of arrests, said Robert Schoch, a special agent who oversees the ICE Office of Investigations in Los Angeles.

Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans suspected of being part of transnational gangs were also arrested, he added.

The arrestees are suspected of holding various positions in gangs. Some are suspected of being low-level to high-ranking members in neighborhood, jail or prison gangs or larger transnational crime syndicates -- such as Mara Salvatrucha, which was born in the streets of Los Angeles and became a worldwide gang network, Schoch said.

Agency officials credited expanded jail screenings and partnerships with local law enforcement, such as Orange County Sheriff's Department and La Habra Police Department.

"In Orange County we are working with nearly every police department that has a problem with gangs… Anaheim, La Habra… Orange, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa," Schoch said.

Of the 1,970 suspected gang members taken into custody last year, federal officials prosecuted more than 850 on federal charges -- ranging from re-entry after deportation to weapons violations, the agency reported. If convicted, they would have to serve a prison sentence before officials could deport them.

The rest were suspected foreign national gang members who were arrested, processed through the system on administration immigration violations and placed in deportation proceedings, Schoch reported.

If these immigrants were to return to the U.S. and get caught, they'd face illegal re-entry charges, which carry harsh prison sentences that would have to be completed before final deportation.

"It's been a fantastic cocktail of gang enforcement that has obviously shown incredible results," said Brian DeMore, field office director for the Los Angeles Office of Detention and Removal Operations. "Furthermore the type of detainee we have in custody is so significantly different than what we had five years ago."

Since the Department of Homeland Security formed, he said agency officials have gone after illegal immigrants who "posed greater dangers to the community."

ICE agents arrested suspected gang members from seven counties in the Los Angeles area: Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

In Orange County, one of the suspected gang members facing prosecution is a previously deported Mexican national with suspected ties to the Westside Dukes, a clique of the Clanton Street Gang out of Los Angeles, agency officials reported.

"The Clanton Street gang is one of the oldest, notorious Hispanic street gangs in Los Angeles," ICE agent Jim Pilkington said.

Heriberto Ramos-Moreno, 42, has a criminal record that includes prior convictions for second degree robbery and voluntary manslaughter involving the fatal stabbing of a rival gang member in Hollywood, immigration officials reported.

"He's a veterano … has long-standing gang affiliation. He's been in and out of the system pretty regularly," Pilkington said of Ramos-Moreno.

The suspect was turned over to ICE in October upon his release from the Orange County Jail, where he was detained on suspicion of obstructing an officer. The U.S. Attorney's office is prosecuting Ramos-Moreno on suspicion of felony re-entry after deportation. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

La Habra police also contributed to arrests, turning over two suspected gang members.

Officers arrested Victor Rios on suspicion of being in the country illegally while possessing a firearm and box of ammunition during a search warrant. Rios is suspected of belonging to the Monos Criminal Street gang, Schoch said.

During a separate search warrant, officers arrested Alfredo Jose Rodriguez on suspicion of being in the country illegally while possessing a firearm. Rodriguez is suspected of belonging to the Westside La Habra Compo gang, Schoch said.

Both face up to 10 years in prison before they are deported, Kice said.

Since Operation Community Shield was launched in 2005, ICE has arrested more than 11,850 suspected gang members and associates nationwide and seized more than 450 firearms, officials reported. Of those arrested, 145 were suspected gang leaders.