U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of 24 alleged members of MS-13 and other transnational criminal gangs in the Long Island and Hudson Valley areas of New York on Thursday.
The arrests were made under Operation Matador, a joint initiative launched in May 2017 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transnational Organized Crime Initiative (TOCI), ICE Homeland Security Investigations and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Arrests made under the initiative now total 475.
“Operation Matador sends a clear message to violent street gangs that there are consequences for their actions,” ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan said. “Since this operation began last year, we have seen a decrease in the amount of violent crime directly related to MS-13 and other transnational gangs. That is a direct result of the strong partnerships between ICE Homeland Security Investigations, local law enforcement and our community partners in support of a common goal: targeting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations.”
Since the launch of Operation Matador, 274 alleged members of MS-13 have been arrested. One El Salvadorian national who was arrested confessed to killing rival gang members in his home country, and another was wanted for killing a law enforcement officer in El Salvador.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is extremely proud to have assisted in this operation,” Leon Hayward, the acting director of the New York Field Office, said. “It is through our interagency partnerships and collaborative approaches like the one leading to today’s arrests, that law enforcement successfully combats modern criminal organizations.”
With 210 of Operation Matador’s arrests being made in Nassau County, Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder said authorities are sending “a strong message to all gangs that we will not tolerate their unlawfulness and intimidation. Our agencies will continue to collaborate to decrease the violence that is associated with these gangs.”