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Posts tagged ‘MS-13 Gang’

Adult MS-13 Member Caught Claiming to Be Unaccompanied Minor at Border


Reported 

Border Patrol agents have recently reported actions of illegal border crossing at the border by mass groups of illegals migrants. 

A group of 61 illegal immigrants just crossed the border by the Yuma Station near the San Luis Port of Entry in southern Arizona. The border patrol agents discovered an adult MS-13 member hiding within the group of illegal immigrants. 

The group was hiding in the desert after they crossed the border on Monday when they were found. The illegals that were found consisted of a single national Mexican, 59 adult Guatemalans, and one unaccompanied Salvadoran minor. The 61 individuals captured were sent to the Yuma Station to be processed by officials. 

According to breitbart:

The agents determined the person claiming to be a Salvadoran unaccompanied minor to actually be an adult. Officials identified the Salvadoran as 18-year-old Herberth Geovani Argueta-Chavez. He also admitted to being a member of Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13).

Argueta-Chavez told officials “he was trying to separate from the gang.” He said he crossed the border illegally to make his way to Los Angeles, California.

Agents processed the group of 61 illegal aliens for immigration violations. 

Border Patrol spokesman Justin Kallinger told Breitbart Texas that the Mexican national has been interviewed and remains under investigation. He said they are not sure if this group of 60 migrants is part of the “caravan” that is reported to be making its way from Central America to the U.S.

Kallinger noted that the Yuma Sector has seen “an uptick in larger groups,” mostly from Guatemala and Honduras.

Of those in the group of 60 migrants, more than ninety percent were unaccompanied minors or “family reunites,” he explained. The juveniles ranged in age from one-year to 17.

On April 7, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy for people crossing the border illegally, even for the first time.

“To those who wish to challenge the Trump Administration’s commitment to public safety, national security, and the rule of law, I warn you: illegally entering this country will not be rewarded, but will instead be met with the full prosecutorial powers of the Department of Justice,” Sessions said in a written statement. “The situation at our Southwest Border is unacceptable. Congress has failed to pass effective legislation that serves the national interest—that closes dangerous loopholes and fully funds a wall along our southern border. As a result, a crisis has erupted at our Southwest Border that necessitates an escalated effort to prosecute those who choose to illegally cross our border.”

Border Patrol agents are reporting illegal border crossings by large groups of migrants. On Tuesday, agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector reported two large groups that crossed near Hidalgo, Texas, in a two-day period. The agents arrested 112 illegal immigrants including 14 Unaccompanied Alien Children. Most of the balance of the group where Family Unit Aliens from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

In response to the massive increase in illegal border crossings, President Donald Trump called for the deployment of up to 4,000 National Guard troops.  Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona have all responded to the president’s request by committing to send nearly 2,000 guardsmen to the southern border.

“You need to understand that there is a mathematical need for this because the people coming across the border have increased dramatically,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on Fox and Friends Monday morning, “more than 200 percent month on month in the month of March, of what it was the year before.”

ICE ‘Raging Bull’ Operation Leads to Arrest of 267 MS-13 Gang Members


Reported by Bob Price | 16 Nov 2017 | Washington, D.C. 

URL of the original posting site: http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/11/16/ice-raging-bull-operation-leads-to-arrest-of-267-ms-13-gang-members/?

Nearly 300 MS-13 gang members are behind bars following the conclusion of a joint international law enforcement effort led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “Operation Raging Bull” resulted in the arrests of 214 MS-13 members and affiliates in the U.S. and 53 in El Salvador.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents executed Operation Raging Bull in support of the Department of Justice’s recent prioritization of enforcement actions against violent transnational gangs.

“MS-13 has long been a priority for ICE. However we are now combating the gang with renewed focus and an unprecedented level of cooperation among DHS’s components and our domestic and international partners,” ICE Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Thomas Homan said in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. “ICE has the ability to pursue complex criminal cases using our statutory authorities and to prevent crime by using our administrative arrest authorities to remove gang members from the country. We will not rest until every member, associate, and leader of MS-13 has been held accountable for their crimes, and those in this country illegally have been removed.” 

Phase one of the operation followed up on the results of an 18-month investigation in El Salvador. The probe led to the arrests of 53 MS-13 gang members and affiliates in El Salvador. In early October, the second phase began in the States. Running from October 8 to November 11, law enforcement officers and agents from federal, state, and local agencies arrested 214 gang members and affiliates across the U.S.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions repeatedly stressed the importance of defeating MS-13.

“With more than 10,000 members across 40 states, MS-13 is one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States today,” Sessions said in a statement on Thursday. “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.”

“So far this year, we have secured convictions against more than 1,200 gang members and worked with our partners in Central America to arrest and charge some 4,000 MS-13 members,” the AG explained. “These 267 arrests are the next step toward making this country safer by taking MS-13 off of our streets for good.”

Ninety-three of the 214 arrests made in the U.S. were based on federal and/or state criminal charges, officials stated. Those charges include: murder, aggravated robbery, racketeering influenced corrupt organization (RICO) offenses, violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR) offenses, narcotics trafficking, narcotics possession, firearms offenses, domestic violence, assault, forgery, driving under the influence, and illegal entry/reentry. Immigration violations made up the remaining 121 arrests.

Operation Raging Bull – Nations of Origin chart – ICE

Only 16 of those arrested were U.S. citizens, the report states. Illegal aliens made up the overwhelming majority of those arrested. Officials arrested a total of 198 immigrants — 193 of which had no legal status. The MS-13 gang members came from El Salvador (135), Honduras (29), Mexico (17), Guatemala (12), Ecuador (4) and Costa Rica (1).

Of those arrested after entering the U.S. illegally, ICE officials reported that 64 came to the U.S. as Unaccompanied Alien Children — most of those are now adults.

Operation Raging Bull – Arrest Map – ICE

ICE officials provided examples of the types of crimes carried out by these MS-13 gang members:

  • In Baltimore, Maryland, the arrest and indictment of four MS-13 members on charges that include violent crimes in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.
  • In McKinney, Texas, the arrest of an MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who is wanted for homicide by the National Civil Police of El Salvador (PNC).
  • In Denver, Colorado, the arrest of an MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who is wanted on an outstanding warrant for DUI and was found with three machetes in his possession.
  • In Los Angeles, California, the arrest of an MS-13 member and citizen of El Salvador, subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice for gang offenses and involvement with the murder of an PNC officer in El Salvador.
  • In San Francisco, California, the arrest of an MS-13 member and citizen of El Salvador, who is a wanted fugitive in El Salvador on an arrest warrant for violent crimes including homicide.

ICE officials added six MS-13 gang members to their most wanted list, including one wanted in Montgomery County, Texas, on murder charges. The other five fugitives are suspected of murdering Salvadoran police officers.

Operation Raging Bull - Most Wanted List - ICE

Operation Raging Bull – Most Wanted List – ICE

ICE uses the following criteria in confirming MS-13 gang membership or affiliation:

Individuals are confirmed as gang members if they admit membership in a gang; have been convicted of violating Title 18 USC 521 or any other federal or state law criminalizing or imposing civil consequences for gang-related activity; or if they meet certain other criteria such as having tattoos identifying a specific gang or being identified as a gang member by a reliable source.

Gang associates are individuals who exhibit gang member criteria but who are not formally initiated into the gang. Law enforcement officers encountering these individuals will determine whether indications of gang association are present by referring to the gang membership criteria.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTXGAB, and Facebook.

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