MS-13 gang arrest figure jumps to 267 after Phase 2 of operations

The Short:

U.S. law enforcement officials have so far arrested 267 members of MS-13, a violent street gang spread across the country and overseas. MS-13 is the only street gang designated by the Treasury Department as a transnational criminal organization.

The Long:

The operation began under former U.S. President Barack Obama, and consists of two phases targeting gang members and their extensive financial networks around the globe. The initiative has escalated under President Trump.

The arrests are an important step in the current administration’s efforts to stamp out the gang, according to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Gang members from MS-13 have been implicated in several high-profile homicides around the United States.

The first phase of the operation involved dangerous members of the gang, and the initial arrests in El Salvador numbered 53, after a year and a half of investigation that concluded in September. The second phase was executed in the United States between October 8 and November 11, and the tally of arrests rose by 214 across the country.

According to Sessions:

“With more than 10,000 members across 40 states, MS-13 is one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States today. President Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to reduce crime and take down transnational criminal organizations, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of these objectives.”

You can read the Department of Justice Press Release here.

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