28 Immigrants With Ties To Gangs Arrested (WDSU-LA)

28 Immigrants With Ties To Gangs Arrested
Feds Say Many Will Be Deported

POSTED: 12:56 pm CDT September 23, 2010

NEW ORLEANS -- Twenty-eight people with ties to the MS-13 and Latin Kings gangs were arrested and several will be deported after a three-day operation, immigration officials said.

The effort culminated Wednesday and was spearheaded by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, with help from border patrol, the Kenner Police Department, Louisiana State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Of those arrested, 18 are from Mexico, six are from Honduras, three are from El Salvador and one is from Guatemala, according to a news release.

Investigators said five of those arrested will be considered for federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation -- a federal violation that carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison -- as well as charges of fraud and misuse of visas and misuse of Social Security cards. Another individual faces state prosecution on drug charges, investigators said.

Those foreign nationals who are not being prosecuted on criminal charges are being processed for removal from the United States, officials said.

"Street gangs account for a significant amount of crime at both the national and local levels," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans. "HSI works closely with our local law enforcement partners to identify, locate and arrest these gang members to thwart criminal activity in our communities. Ultimately, ICE deports them."