Immigration officials arrest, deport gang suspects
Posted: Wednesday, November 30, 2005
OMAHA (AP) -- Omaha-based immigration officials have arrested 47 suspected gang members and associates since the February launching of a national anti-gang effort, authorities said.
Operation Community Shield is a national anti-gang initiative that has netted 1,600 gang members and associates so far this year, said spokesman Carl Rusnok.
Of the 47 arrested in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, 35 have been deported to their native countries by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said spokesman Carl Rusnok.
The remaining 12 are in custody and waiting for deportation or are serving prison sentences and will be deported when their sentences are completed.
The operation initially targeted a gang called Mara Salvatrucha-13 but later expanded to other criminal gangs with foreign-born members.
Omaha Police Department gang unit officers team with federal agents on most local cases. The department offers intelligence and other assistance, and federal authorities deport the foreign-born gang members.
"We use our unique immigration and enforcement authorities to not only get them off the streets, but to get them out of the country," said Rusnok.
Rusnok said that people who return to the United States after being deported is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Those arrested, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release, included two alleged "high-level" members of the 18th Street West Side gang in Omaha: Cecilio Rodriguez-Martinez, 35, and Marvin Beltran-Albines, 21.
Rodriguez-Martinez will be deported after serving time for re-entering the country, and Beltran-Albines was deported in August after serving time for assault and battery.
Crime committed by others arrested in the operation include assault on a police officer, gang-related shootings, drug sales and domestic violence, Rusnok said.
Gangs involved include Lomas, Pelones 13, Under Aged Kriminals, Rebels, Diamond Street and Spanish Gangster Disciples.
Operation Community Shield continues, said Michael Wardy, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Operation Community Shield is a national anti-gang initiative that has netted 1,600 gang members and associates so far this year, said spokesman Carl Rusnok.
Of the 47 arrested in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa, 35 have been deported to their native countries by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said spokesman Carl Rusnok.
The remaining 12 are in custody and waiting for deportation or are serving prison sentences and will be deported when their sentences are completed.
The operation initially targeted a gang called Mara Salvatrucha-13 but later expanded to other criminal gangs with foreign-born members.
Omaha Police Department gang unit officers team with federal agents on most local cases. The department offers intelligence and other assistance, and federal authorities deport the foreign-born gang members.
"We use our unique immigration and enforcement authorities to not only get them off the streets, but to get them out of the country," said Rusnok.
Rusnok said that people who return to the United States after being deported is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Those arrested, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release, included two alleged "high-level" members of the 18th Street West Side gang in Omaha: Cecilio Rodriguez-Martinez, 35, and Marvin Beltran-Albines, 21.
Rodriguez-Martinez will be deported after serving time for re-entering the country, and Beltran-Albines was deported in August after serving time for assault and battery.
Crime committed by others arrested in the operation include assault on a police officer, gang-related shootings, drug sales and domestic violence, Rusnok said.
Gangs involved include Lomas, Pelones 13, Under Aged Kriminals, Rebels, Diamond Street and Spanish Gangster Disciples.
Operation Community Shield continues, said Michael Wardy, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
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