FBI Arrest 40 Beaners in Nebraska Street Gang Bust

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FBI Arrest 40 in Nebraska Street Gang Bust

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. - Law enforcement officials arrested 40 people and seized

drugs, cash and weapons, seriously denting Omaha operations of a street gang

with ties to Central America, officials with several agencies said Tuesday.

The arrests were part of an ongoing investigation of the gang Mara

Salvatrucha, or MS-13.

Fifteen of those arrested were linked directly to the gang and charged with

various gun, drug and immigration violations, First Assistant U.S. Attorney

William Mickle said. Ten were charged federally and five faced state

charges.

While searching for gang members, authorities arrested 25 people and charged

them only with being in the United States illegally, said Bill Wallrapp,

resident agent-in-charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Wallrapp said authorities were still determining whether some of those

people were tied to the gang.

Authorities seized illegal weapons, 20 pounds of marijuana, a half pound of

methamphetamines and 4 ounces of cocaine, Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren

said.

Agents with the FBI, ICE, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Nebraska

State Patrol and Omaha and Bellevue police continued executing search

warrants and making arrests Tuesday, and authorities expected gang arrests

and indictments to rise.

"We're on our way to dismantling MS-13 here in Omaha," FBI Special

Agent-in-Charge John Kavanaugh said.

Details about the charges and those suspected were not immediately available

because the indictments were sealed.

The arrests came as part of Operation Community Shield, a national

initiative targeting gangs that was launched more than two years ago after

federal officials identified the MS-13 gang as one of the nation's largest

and most violent.