ICE Arrests 11 MS-13 Gang Members in Fairfax County

FALLS CHURCH, VA -- Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has made 1,378 arrests across the country, including 11 MS-13 gang members at a Falls Church stash house in Fairfax County. The operation concluded last weekend and targeted gang members involved in drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human smuggling and sex trafficking, murder and racketeering.

Fairfax County Police initially received reports sex trafficking in the home, according to ICE. One was arrested for a criminal offense and the remainder for immigration violations. Two of the individuals had outstanding orders of removal. The Fairfax County Police Department assisted with the arrests on April 26, ICe said in a press release. A comment from Fairfax County Police was not immediately available.

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Fairfax County has been responding to a rise in gang activity throughout the region. The most recent suspected gang activity came in March when two bodies were recovered from Holmes Run Park in Lincolnia.

Fox5DC reported that there were 17 total arrests in the Washington, DC area. Nationwide, 1,095 of the 1,378 arrested were confirmed as gang members and affiliates. 933 were U.S. citizens.

While the Obama administration has carried out more deportations than any other president, detentions of individuals without criminal records has spiked under the Trump administration. From January through mid-March of this year, ICE arrested more than 21,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Of those, 5,400 had no criminal records.

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