TOPEKA, Kan. – Sixteen of those arrested were gang members. The operation netted 24 firearms, nearly 19 kilograms of narcotics including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin as well as $25,000 in U.S. currency.
Feuds between local neighborhood base gangs, or NBG, caused a sharp rise in shootings during the late months of last year. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, the 257 Crips NBG and the 5th Block NBG “were engaged in a long-running feud which had turned increasingly violent”. Local foster children were being targeted in an effort to recruit young prospective members. Law enforcement says members of the two gangs carried firearms for protection as they distributed drugs. Several shootings between the rivals resulted in injuries to bystanders.
Strategies from the U.S. Marshals’ counter gang model were used to conduct Operation Frontier Justice. According to a news release, “These strategies include the targeting and arrest of violent fugitives, gang members and criminal offenders who have committed violent crimes such as homicide, shooting into dwellings, felony assault and sexual assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, and robbery.” The effort’s intent was to “disrupt the criminal operations of violent street gangs and criminal offenders”.
Agencies involved included: U.S. Marshals Service, Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Department of Corrections, Shawnee County Department of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
Sixteen of those arrested were gang members. The operation netted 24 firearms, nearly 19 kilograms of narcotics including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin as well as $25,000 in U.S. currency.
Feuds between local neighborhood base gangs, or NBG, caused a sharp rise in shootings during the late months of last year. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, the 257 Crips NBG and the 5th Block NBG “were engaged in a long-running feud which had turned increasingly violent”. Local foster children were being targeted in an effort to recruit young prospective members. Law enforcement says members of the two gangs carried firearms for protection as they distributed drugs. Several shootings between the rivals resulted in injuries to bystanders.
Strategies from the U.S. Marshals’ counter gang model were used to conduct Operation Frontier Justice. According to a news release, “These strategies include the targeting and arrest of violent fugitives, gang members and criminal offenders who have committed violent crimes such as homicide, shooting into dwellings, felony assault and sexual assault, illegal possession of firearms, illegal drug distribution, and robbery.” The effort’s intent was to “disrupt the criminal operations of violent street gangs and criminal offenders”.
Agencies involved included: U.S. Marshals Service, Topeka Police Department, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol, Kansas Department of Corrections, Shawnee County Department of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas.
138, state, local, and federal felony arrests
120 state and local misdemeanor arrests
16 gang members arrested
24 firearms seized
19.982 kilograms of narcotics seized
236 rounds of ammunition seized
$25,000 in U.S. currency seized
