![]() ICE arresting a suspected gang member as part of Project Shadowfire in 2016 | |
Date | February 2005 – present |
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Location | United States of America |
Outcome | Ongoing [1] |
Operation Community Shield is an ongoing multi-agency law enforcement initiative targeting violent gang members and their associates involved in the illegal drug and human trafficking industries in the United States. Since its launch by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in February 2005, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have made more than 40,000 gang-related arrests, including 451 gang leaders, representing more than 2,400 different gangs and organizations, and have seized more than 8,000 guns in multiple projects. [1] [2]
HSI's National Gang Unit (NGU) is a critical part of ICE's mission to bring the fight to transnational criminal gangs. The NGU identifies and develops intelligence on gang membership, associations, activities and international movements. It also deters, disrupts gang operations by tracing and seizing cash, weapons and other assets derived from illicit activities. [3]
NGU leverages its anti-gang initiative called Operation Community Shield to enhance U.S. public safety. The unit develops strategic domestic and foreign law enforcement partnerships and utilizes those partnerships, along with all of its unique legal authorities to target gangs, to suppress violence and prosecute criminal enterprises. [3]
Operation Community Shield investigators perform the following duties: [1]
Operation Community Shield projects include: [2]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from cross-border crime and undocumented immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
The Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation is one of the largest Caribbean and Latino street and prison gangs worldwide. The gang was founded by Puerto Ricans in Chicago, Illinois, in 1954.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) is a federal drug enforcement program in the United States, overseen by the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the major drug trafficking operations and tackle related crimes, such as money laundering, tax and weapon violations, and violent crime, and prosecute those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.
Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang.
The United Blood Nation, also known as the East Coast Bloods, is a street and prison gang active primarily in the New York metropolitan area. It is the east coast faction of the California-based Bloods street gang. Their main source of income is the trafficking and sale of illegal drugs.
The Chaldean mafia, or Chaldean organized crime, is a collective of criminal organizations composed of Chaldean Catholic Assyrians which emerged in the United States during the 1980s. Chaldean organized crime is active primarily in Detroit, as well as in San Diego, California and Phoenix, Arizona.
La Raza is a street gang founded in Chicago in 1973. Their colors are green, white, and red. Their symbols include the Mexican flag, cross, and a six-point star.
The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle club. The club was formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. The club has undergone a number of large-scale police and FBI investigations, most notably in 1973, 1987 and 2007. In the early 1970s several members were convicted of bombings and raids of the homes and the clubhouses of rival motorcycle clubs.
Armenian Power 13, also known as AP, the Armenian Mob, or Armenian Mafia is an Armenian criminal organization and street gang founded and currently based in Los Angeles County, California. They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping, racketeering, robbery and extortion. They are believed to have around 200 members and hundreds of associates, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They are also well known for their connections with the Mexican Mafia.
Drug trafficking organizations are defined by the United States Department of Justice as, "complex organizations with highly defined command-and-control structures that produce, transport, and/or distribute large quantity "Law enforcement reporting indicates that Mexican DTOs maintain drug distribution networks, or supply drugs to distributors, in at least 230 U.S. cities." The use of weapons and fear are commonplace in trafficking which often lead to other crimes in the process. The structures of many of these organizations are of a para-military nature using armed combatants to protect their stock of illegal drugs from growth to delivery.
Operation Power Outage was a sting operation targeted at arresting and indicting members of the criminal group Armenian Power operating in the United States. The group is accused of racketeering offenses, bank fraud schemes, kidnappings, and drug trafficking. Armenian Power which originated 20 years ago in East Hollywood and has over 200 members, has developed from a street gang into an international criminal organization.
Operation In Our Sites is an ongoing effort by the U.S. government's National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center to detect and hinder intellectual property violations on the Internet. Pursuant to this operation, governmental agencies arrest suspects affiliated with the targeted websites and seize their assets including websites' domain names. Web users intending to access targeted websites are directed to the server operated by the U.S. government, and greeted with a graphic bearing the seals of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (NIPRCC), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Project Shadowfire was an American police investigation in early 2016 that resulted in the arrest of 1,133 people, 915 of whom were suspected members of "multinational organized criminal gangs", involved in murder, racketeering, drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico and elsewhere. The majority of the arrests took place in Los Angeles and San Francisco in California; El Paso and Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. 70,000 US, 150 firearms and more than 20 kg narcotics were seized.
Project Wildfire was a nationwide, multi-agency investigation of various transnational criminal gangs in 2015 that resulted in the arrests of 976 individuals, representing 239 different organizations, in 282 cities in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Eighty-two firearms, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, 7.8 kilograms of marijuana, 5.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of heroin, US$379,399, counterfeit merchandise with a suggested retail price of US$547,534 and five vehicles were also seized.
Project Southern Tempest was a major U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation conducted between December 2010 and February 2011 targeting transnational street gang members with ties to drug cartels in Mexico, as part of the ongoing law enforcement initiative known as Operation Community Shield.
The Florencia 13, also known as South Side Florencia 13,Florence Gang, F13 is an American criminal street gang based in Los Angeles, California, composed mainly of Mexican-Americans. The gang is named after the Florence area of Los Angeles County, controlled by the Mexican Mafia. They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery.
James A. "Jim" Dinkins is an American law enforcement officer and business executive who served as the first head of Homeland Security Investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2010 to 2014. He is a senior vice president and director of operations of Enterprise Financial Crimes Compliance for U.S. Bancorp.
Operation Devil Horns was a four-year-long criminal investigation run by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), culminating in the arrests and convictions of more than three dozen members of the MS-13 gang in San Francisco. It is one of the largest such cases of its kind in U.S. history.
Operation DisrupTor was an international investigation targeting drug traffickers on the dark web. Coordinated by the Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement, the operation was initiated and managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The operation also included assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local law enforcement agencies.
Operation Dark HunTOR was an international law enforcement operation targeting opioid trafficking and other illegal activities on The Onion Router (TOR). The operation, which was conducted across the United States, Australia, and Europe, over a period of 10 months. In addition Europol released a statement that said the operation was composed of a series of separate but complementary actions in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, with coordination efforts led by Europol and Eurojust; which greatly expands on the initial number of countries that the US press releases indicated.