CHANTILLY, Va. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and law enforcement partners arrested 214 illegal aliens during a two-week targeted enforcement operation in Northern Virginia, officials announced Thursday.
The operation, conducted from March 1 to 13, focused on transnational organized crime, gang activity, and egregious offenders. Authorities said the arrests targeted members of MS-13 and the 18th Street gang operating in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.
“Our communities in Virginia are safer today because our law enforcement officers stood between them and the danger,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russ Hott.
Among those arrested were individuals with prior convictions for violent crimes, including murder, sexual offenses, and weapons charges. Officials said several suspects had been previously deported and reentered the U.S. illegally.
Law enforcement agencies involved in the operation included the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, Virginia State Police, and multiple federal and state partners.