Illegals arrested in bust (Charleston Post and Courier)

Illegals arrested in bust
Local authorities, feds nab 25 immigrants suspected of gang-related activity

By Nadine Parks
The Post and Courier
Sunday, November 9, 2008

Federal agents swooped into the Lowcountry, plucked out more than two dozen illegal immigrants with gang ties and deported them from the country.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's four-month Operation Community Shield focused on gangs and netted 1,759 people across the country. Twenty-five were arrested locally with the help of North Charleston's Gang Intervention Team. All were charged with being in the country illegally.

"We're targeting what we think are dangerous criminals. We think it's been a success in Charleston," Charleston's resident agent in charge said. He asked that his name not be used because gangs are known to target agents and their families.

Most of the arrests were made in the North Charleston area in communities with a high concentration of Hispanic residents. Those communities include the area of Stall and Midland Park roads, North Charleston's border with Hanahan along Remount Road and a concentration of apartments below Charleston Air Force Base on Dorchester Road.

North Charleston police are familiar with the communities and helped point agents to the gang associates living there, the agent said.

Police Chief Jon Zumalt founded the two-man Gang Intervention Team in 2006 to prevent violent gang activity in the city. The team teaches the community about the signs that indicate gangs have moved into an area, and it tries to persuade gang members to leave their gangs.

"We are starting to see more Hispanic gangs in our region," Zumalt said. "It's a very relevant issue."

Some of the illegal immigrants affiliated with gangs were captured on Johns Island as well. The agent in charge said gangs have not taken a stronghold in the Charleston area, and he hopes the recent arrests will discourage others from coming here.

"We don't think they are heavily involved in trying to take over the area, but you see them involved with drugs and weapons and things like that," Zumalt said.

Fifteen of the 25 people arrested locally were associates of the Surenos (Southerners) gang.

Of 1,759 people arrested nationwide in Operation Community Shield, which wrapped up in September, nearly 1,500 were associated with gangs and other criminal activity. Nearly 30 percent had violent criminal histories with charges ranging from drug and firearm violations to attempted murder.

The sweep netted 17 gang leaders, including accused Inland Empire gang leader Roberto Dominguez in Atlanta and accused Uptown Gang leader Kinske St. Vilus in Miami, a news release said.

ICE was established in 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Agents have arrested more than 11,000 gang members and their associates around the country.

Federal officials said Thursday that there was a 63 percent increase in illegal immigrants deported from Georgia and the Carolinas in fiscal year 2008, which ended in October. ICE carried out a record 17,955 deportation orders, compared to 11,006 the previous year.

The agency said it began removal proceedings in those three states against 7,000 criminals in jails and prisons, an increase from 3,722 in 2007. The criminals will face possible deportation when their sentences are complete.

SIDE BAR

Illegal immigration arrests

Twenty-five gang associates arrested in the Charleston area for being in the country illegally were affiliated with the following gangs. Twenty-two have been deported. Two are pending deportation and one is pending state criminal charges.

15 Surenos (Southerners)

6 Vatos Locos (Crazy Guys)

2 Eighteen Street

1 Brown Pride

1 Nortenos (Northerners)