Republicans like to paint Democrats as soft on crime, but the FBI has made record numbers of arrests this summer. As the GOP faces a weaker candidate and gas prices are coming down, the crime narrative can be easily rebutted.
FBI Director Christopher Wray announced today in a video message the results of joint criminal justice enforcement activities throughout the summer acknowledging the essential cooperation of police departments from state and local levels across the nation. Read: Democrats tougher on crime
Between May 1 and September. 2 2022 Between May 1 and Sept. 2, 2022, FBI and local and state law enforcement agencies arrested nearly 6,000 alleged violent criminals and gang members , and confiscated more than 2,700 firearms connected to criminal activity. In the summer, the FBI and its partners stopped nearly 845 and destroyed more than 105 violent gangs as well as criminal enterprises and seized large quantities of fentanyl and other deadly narcotics.
“Keeping our communities as well as our country safe is the Justice Department’s priority, every single day. In the first quarter of this year, we further intensified our department-wide efforts to stop violent crime, including by directing all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices to develop and implement district-specific violence reduction strategies,” stated Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Together with our law enforcement partners across the country, we will continue to do everything we can to protect our communities from violent crime.”
“I believe the FBI’s most sacred duty is to ensure people can live free from fear in their own homes and neighborhoods,” said Director Wray. “To that end, we dedicate agents, analysts, and technical resources across the country to work with state and local law enforcement on these operations.”
These joint violent crime enforcement initiatives resulted in FBI operations in a number of communities across the country including New Mexico, California, Texas, Illinois, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., as described below:
The FBI Albuquerque Violent Gang Task Force executed 16 federal search warrants aimed at violent street and prison gangs. More than twelve federal as well as state and local SWAT and law enforcement agencies teams seized more than one million fentanyl-containing pills, 142 pounds of methamphetamine, 37 guns nine ballistic vests two hand grenades and $1.8 million cash.
The Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs arrested 28 members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Eastside Playboys street gang for the alleged racketeering in federal law, weapons and narcotics offenses. The task force seized around 47 firearms, more than 200 kilograms of methamphetamine, 27 kilograms of cocaine plus over 13 kilograms of fentanyl plus more than 7 kg of heroin.
In Houston, 10 MS-13 Gang members were federally indictedfor racketeering conspiracy murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to murder for racketeering. They also face firearms charges, as well as obstruction of justice. The seven murders mentioned in the indictment were particularly brutal, using mutilation and dismemberment with machetes and also included the murder of a juvenile female and an informant from the police.
As part of FBI Sacramento’s efforts in a multi-agency coordinated operation targeting the South Lake Tahoe area, seven defendants were charged with conspiring to distribute distribute methamphetamine and heroin. Separately, four subjects were indicted for trafficking methamphetamine, as well as firearms, including an AR-15 style shotgun, a rifle and several handguns, a few of which were “ghost” guns, lacking serial numbers.
In Chicago, three individuals were arrested with two violent carjackings. In both cases the defendants were allegedly seen with firearms that were semiautomatic and in one instance the cases, the defendants also employed a semiautomatic rifle. A third defendant was also charged in a separate carjacking in downtown Chicago and also the use of a firearm.
In the FBI San Antonio’s Waco Resident Agency, a federal grand jury indicted 27 defendants for their involvement in a drug trafficking group operating methamphetamine distribution rings that led to numerous arrests.
A federal probe into a Hawaiian criminal enterprise led to three subjects being arrested for their alleged participation in the drug trafficking business of methamphetamine and cocaine, operating a gambling business that was illegal and firearms possession. The criminal enterprise was active throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
41 violent gang members of Puerto Rico were arrested on firearms and drug trafficking charges. The criminal gang is accused of distributing heroin cocaine, marijuana, Oxycodone, Oxycodone, and other drugs throughout Puerto Rico.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Cross Border Safe Streets Task Force, recovered eight firearms and significant amounts of crack cocaine and Fentanyl stemming from searches related to their investigation. Ten defendants were detained for being accused of conspiring to distribute cocaine and Fentanyl throughout the D.C. area.
Twenty-five individuals were arrested in Pennsylvania for allegedly running an illegal drug trafficking ring. The subjects allegedly engaged in an extensive drug distribution scheme which went beyond state borders to Florida, Puerto Rico, and Arizona.
Similar to the ones mentioned here Similar to the ones listed here, the FBI along with the law enforcement agencies we work with conducted various operations in other cities across the United States which included Cleveland, Buffalo, New Haven, Charlotte, Springfield, and more and will continue their efforts to stop violent crime and help keep our communities secure for all.
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