Over 300 arrested on Gulf Coast, including 92 alleged gang members

More than 300 people were arrested and $4 million seized at the end of a six-month operation aimed at apprehending alleged gang members and other violent offenders in Texas, federal officials announced.

The investigation, named Operation Triple Beam, produced 351 arrests, including 92 alleged gang members, the confiscation of 86 guns, $4,360,968 and 32 kilos of illicit drugs, according to the US Marshal Service. The probe — headed by the Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force in cooperation with several federal and state agencies — stretched from April 7 to Sept. 30.

The investigation zeroed in on street and prison gangs that operate in Nueces, Aransas and San Patricio counties in the Lone Star State, the US Marshals Service revealed.

“As violent crime and gang violence continue to rise and plague our cities and counties, those of us in the law enforcement community must be ready and willing to engage,” US Marshal for the Southern District of Texas T. Michael O’Connor said Monday in a statement.

“The goal of Operation Triple Beam is to foster safer communities by providing immediate relief from gang-related violence by investigating and arresting fugitive gang members and the criminal organizations responsible for committing violent crimes.”

The Corpus Christi Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations; Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the US Attorney’s Office and other entities were involved in the operation, authorities said.

“I am extremely proud of all our law enforcement partners who have worked so diligently these past several months,” said O’Connor.