SW Houston 90-Day Sting Nets 341 Arrests, 220 Of Them In Gangs

HOUSTON, TX — Law enforcement officials used a triple-threat approach to target and arrest more than 300 people in Southwest Houston, with most of them confirmed gang members. Houston police teamed with the U.S. Marshals Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety in a three-month span for the most successful sting in Operation Triple Beam history.

Other agencies involved were the sheriff's departments of Harris County, Montgomery County, Galveston County, Homeland Security Investigations, ATF, U.S. State Department, Texas Department of Health and Human Services and the Texas Department if Criminal Justice Inspector General.

The operation identified and targeted violent gang members. HPD executive chief Troy Finner said anytime the federal marshals and local agencies work together, the "results are just great."

When asked, Finner didn't give the name of any gangs in which members were involved, saying he doesn't want to give any publicity to gangs or their members. The most notorious and vicious in Houston are typically MS-13 and the Southwest Cholos, but Finner said it was people of all races from all gang.

"I want to thank you for the partnership, and we're going to continue to do it," said Finner, who was filling in for HPD Chief Art Acevedo, who was traveling. "And I want to thank the men and women on the front line. We really moved some bad, dangerous people off the street."

Here's a quick look at the results of Operation Triple Beam by the numbers:

341 — Total arrest
220 — Confirmed gang members
62 — Guns seized
$60,000 — Cash seized
$1 Million — Amount in drugs seized

The Harris County Sheriff's Office helped in the operation.

Since 2010, Operation Triple Beam has been deployed 45 times across America in places with significant gang problems. The name is based on the the three primary enforcement methods, or beams, they deploy in the collaborative operations: 1.) fugitive investigation and apprehension; 2.) Proactive street patrols and enforcement; 3.) Dismantlement of the gang structure through seized assets and prosecution.

Richard Hunter, who leads the U.S. Marshals Southern Region, said the operation took 62 guns off the streets and out of the hands of gang members. He said the $1million in drugs seized averages to $10,000 a day in drugs taken off the streets of Houston.

"To date, the Operation Triple Beam in Houston is the most successful in the history of the franchise, and I'm proud to say that," Hunter said.

Hunter went out of his way to say "this was not an immigration enforcement operation."

"As U.S. Marshals, we do not care about your U.S. citizenship status," Hunter said. "We care that you're a violent criminal with a warrant for your arrest.

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)