Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies teamed up Thursday to arrest 17 foreign nationals with ties to violent street gangs in Morgan Hill, San Jose, San Martin and Gilroy.
Operation Community Shield, led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, lasted all day Thursday and also involved the Gilroy and Morgan Hill Police departments and the California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
Authorities said they arrested the four suspected Sureño gang members between 7 and 8:30 p.m. who lived in Gilroy. Police charged the four men under a U.S. immigration code barring aliens from entering the country at improper times and places. A press release from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said, "the foreign national gang members who were arrested on administrative immigration violations (were) placed in removal proceedings. They will be held in ICE custody and scheduled for a deportation hearing before an immigration judge."
Other arrestees also face drug and burglary violations. Authorities also recovered a .38-caliber snub-nose revolver, but it was unclear which city it was found in. One woman who was picked up had been convicted of carrying a loaded gun in public. Most of those arrested belonged to a sub-gang known as Varrio Sur Rifa.
"The success of the operation is another example of what is accomplished through collaborative efforts," Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming said. "The arrest of these gang members will have a positive impact on violent crime in our community."
Operation Community Shield has traced and seized cash, weapons and other assets derived from criminal activities and has netted more than 13,000 suspected gang members and associates linked to more than 900 different gangs since February 2005, according to the press release.
Chris Bone Chris Bone covers Gilroy government for South Valley Newspapers. Reach him at 847-7109 or e-mail him.
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