The U.S. Marshals Service has announced that a 60 day anti-gang crime operation in and around Oklahoma City ended with the arrest of 262 suspects, and the recovery of five missing children.
According to a news release by the U.S. Marshals Service, ‘Operation Triple Beam’ ended September 6th, and resulted in the arrests of six homicide suspects, 21 burglary suspects, 21 assault suspects, 57 drug offense suspects, and 88 weapons offense suspects. Five missing children were also located and recovered.
Law enforcement officers involved in the operation also seized 72 firearms, close to 20 pounds of narcotics, and nearly $17,000 in currency.
“Operation Triple Beam OKC was a targeted enforcement initiative by the Marshals and their partners to address violent crime in and around Oklahoma City. Our primary goal with operations like OTB is to make communities safer.
When we arrest these violent fugitives, we are also removing guns and narcotics from our streets. We believe these efforts have an immediate, positive impact on the communities we serve,” U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma Johnny Kuhlman said in a statement.
Previous Operations
This comes shortly after multiple successful law enforcement operations such as Georgia’s ‘Operation Not Forgotten’, which rescued 39 endangered children, Ohio’s ‘Operation Safety Net’, which led to the discovery of 25 children, Arizona’s ‘Operation Home Alone 2’, which arrested five people for luring a minor for sexual exploitation, and ‘Operation Legend’, in which 2,500 people throughout the country have been arrested for a variety of crimes.
“When we track down fugitives, it’s a good feeling to know that we’re putting the bad guy behind bars. But that sense of accomplishment is nothing compared to finding a missing child.
It’s hard to put into words what we feel when we rescue a missing child, but I can tell you that this operation has impacted every single one of us out here. We are working to protect them and get them the help they need,” the U.S. Marshals Service said.
“These are kids that have been abused, neglected. Some involved in human trafficking. Sometimes the situations they—they go to, believe it or not, may be better than the situations they left from… We’ve had some cases where the mother and or father, or both, may have been prostituting their own child” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated.