U.S. Marshals, Houston police net hundreds of suspected gang members in joint operation

Members of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force raid an apartment in north Houston to apprehend a man who is wanted for murder, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Houston. The team received a tip that he was hiding in the complex, and they prepared in a nearby parking lot. Assistant Deputy U.S. Marshal Leslie Ramin was pulled from another investigation to help serve the search warrant. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) less Members of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force raid an apartment in north Houston to apprehend a man who is wanted for murder, Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Houston. The team received a tip that he was ... more Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff / Houston Chronicle Photo: Jon Shapley, Staff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close U.S. Marshals, Houston police net hundreds of suspected gang members in joint operation 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

U.S. Marshals and Houston police, along with a host of other law enforcement agencies, have arrested more than 340 people in the greater Houston area including 220 suspected gang members or associates during a months-long operation that concluded Thursday.

The arrests came as part of an initiative called “Operation Triple Beam,” an effort the Marshal’s Service mounts each year in coordination with local law enforcement in cities around the country.

“You’re leveraging resources - local agencies, federal agencies. Any time we can work together, identifying some of the most violent criminals in our city and the surrounding area, that’s what we should be doing,” Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference Thursday announcing the antigang initiative.

Finner was flanked by U.S. Marshal Gary Blankinship, dozens of Houston police and law officers from other state and federal agencies.

The anti-gang campaign employs three major tactics, with a focus on tracking down fugitive gang members, increasing street patrols in neighborhood with gang activities, and prosecuting gang members and seizing their assets, explained Deputy Marshall Richard Hunter.

As with previous gang operations, officials declined to identify criminal suspects arrested in the case, or identify gangs they were associated with, saying they did not want to provide notoriety to criminal cliques or endanger ongoing cases.

Read more: Brutal MS-13 gang has history of Satanic killings, machete deaths in Houston area

Houston has some of the state’s highest concentration of gang activity, with more than 350 documented gangs and approximately 20,000 gang members calling the region home. A 2017 report from the Houston Police Department’s Gang Division reported that 57 of the 302 murders committed in Houston the year before were gang-related.

Last year, a months long, nationwide dragnet targeting gang members by the Houston office of Homeland Security Investigations resulted in 43 Houston-area arrests, including a number of MS-13 gang members.

Harris County, according to a DPS gang report released last year, provides members to some of the principal gangs including the Houstones, a local clique of the Tango Blast gang. Also operating in Houston are the Bloods and Crips, and the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a white supremacist prison gang. Also operating in the Houston area is MS-13, a notorious street gang which originated in California before spreading to Central America, where it has grown infamous for its violent tactics.

"These groups pose the greatest gang threat to Texas due to their relationships with Mexican cartels, high levels of transnational criminal activity, high levels of violence, and overall statewide presence," the report noted.

After a series of brutal slayings by MS-13 gang members, state and local leaders have both turned attention on gang violence in the past year. In April 2017, Gov. Greg Abbott announced an effort to restore “law and order,” establishing an around-the-clock tactical operations center and infusing an additional $500,000 to combat gangs. The FBI allocated at least 10 more agents to the area to help out.

In Houston, Chief Art Acevedo has also spoken out against gang violence, particularly over a spate of homicides dating back to late 2016 that have claimed the lives of 11 children.

“This community needs to be outraged,” the chief said, late last month. “Your child could be the next.”

After taking over the force in late 2016, Acevedo also shifted investigators to focus on violent crimes like shootings and aggravated assaults and assigned more officers to night shifts, when gang and gun violence more often occur.

Craig Bellamy, captain of the South Gessner Division, adding that violent crime is down 14 percent since the gang operation began, and non-violent crimes down 11 percent. The 340 arrests included 11 homicide arrests, he said.

“We were able to achieve a lot more than we would have been able to on our own,” he said.

He said each arrest has an exponential effect.

“One guy can commit a lot of crimes,” he said. “If they can commit murder, they’re capable of doing everything [else].”

Manhunters: Fugitive task force pounds the pavement in search of criminals

Officers also arrested fugitives wanted in 68 assault cases, 44 robberies, 25 burglaries, and approximately 100 narcotics cases.

Since the US Marshals launched the “Triple Beam” operation in 2010, it has conducted 45 similar operations nationwide, Hunter said, arresting approximately 6,000 people, and seizing 1,500 illegal firearms, and millions in narcotics and confiscated cash. It is the first time the Marshals Service ran the operation in Houston, he said.

A similar operation in San Antonio last year netted more than 200 arrests, 70 guns, nearly $250,000 in confiscated cash and $176,153 worth of drugs taken off the streets.

Along with arrests, law enforcement officers in Houston seized 62 firearms, $60,000 in currency, and narcotics with a street value of over $1 million, making it the most successful such operation since the Marshals launched the program.

Finner thanked the marshals and suggested they stick around.

“You’re always welcome here in Houston, we hope you all don’t leave,” he said. “Lets go to another side of Houston and do the same thing over there.”

This story has been updated to accurately reflect the origins of the MS-13 gang.

st.john.smith@chron.com