U.S. Marshals say 240 alleged violent fugitives were rounded up in the month of May, mostly in Newark.
NEWARK -- A joint federal-local law enforcement sweep in Newark throughout May rounded up 240 alleged violent fugitives and large quantities of drugs and guns, making it the largest such effort ever in the city, officials said Friday.
Among those arrested were 46 alleged gang members and sex offenders, the U.S. Marshals Service said in a news release.
Juan Mattos Jr., U.S. Marshal for the District of New Jersey. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)The joint effort, targeting alleged violent offenders who either skipped court dates or who had been indicted but not arrested, also netted six handguns, an assault rifle, three sets of body armor, hollow-point ammunition and large quantities of marijuana, narcotics and heroin, the marshals said.
In addition, they said, two illegally owned baby alligators were seized.
The Marshal's office in Newark said the roundup was the largest-ever in the city.
"The success of this operation shows how effective law enforcement can be when we focus our combined knowledge and resources on specific targets," U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement. "By working together with a clear strategy, all of our partners in this initiative have achieved results that should leave the streets of Newark safer and make the people who live and work here, feel more secure."
U.S. Marshal Juan Mattos Jr. said that besides the marshals, agencies involved in the sweep including the U.S. Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Newark Police Department, the Essex County Prosecutors office and Sheriff's Office, the New Jersey State Police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal inspection Service, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Removal Operations, Customs and Border Protection and the New Jersey Transit Police.
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Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said the sweep has made the city's streets safer.
"Through our joint efforts, we have made arrests and seized weapons that will no longer pose a threat to public safety as well as removed drugs and the money obtained through illegal activities that fuel criminal operations," he said.
A marshal's spokeswoman said most of those arrested were in Newark. A small percentage were arrested outside New Jersey, she said.
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