Feds arrest 300+ in metro Phoenix during crime sting targeting violent fugitives
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The U.S. Department of Justice detailed the takedown of more than 3,000 violent fugitives across the country, including 300 arrests for crimes that occurred in Arizona.
Last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald Davis announced that between May 10 and September 13, deputy U.S. marshals and local law enforcement arrested 3,421 fugitives nationwide.
During a two-month period, federal authorities were able to arrest 301 targeted fugitives in the metro Phoenix area, the feds said Tuesday.
More than four dozen children were rescued by the task force earlier this year. “The Phoenix-area teams lead the nation with 49 missing children located. Many of these young girls and boys were subject to sex trafficking and abuse,” said Marshal Van Bayless.
About 60 firearms, nearly $100,000 in cash, three vehicles and tens of kilos of narcotics, including fentanyl, were also seized.
The suspects arrested are now facing charges including homicide, sexual offenses, robbery, aggravated assault, and firearms.
U.S. Marshals say of those arrests around the country, 216 were homicide suspects, 803 for assault, and 482 for weapons offenses.
Federal agencies were joined by a number of Valley law enforcement partners, including Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, who said she commended these efforts by the Justice Department.
“These are people that have a very high propensity for violence, who commit sex crimes, who bring drugs and poison like fentanyl into our neighborhoods and who use firearms to hurt and kill others, including recently a Phoenix police officer,” Mitchell said. “When we don’t pay attention and let this type of crime go on checked, our community suffers. These crimes destabilize neighborhoods, affect the economic wellbeing of the people who live here and erode safety and the feeling of safety.”
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