ANALYSIS
Virginia successfully launches task force against transnational gangs: 247 arrested in two weeks
Authorities denounce attempt by "radicals" to confuse public opinion with deportation flights of "violent criminals who took advantage of Biden's border rulings to terrorize Americans."
Illegal immigrants and deported criminals, boarding a plane.
In the midst of controversy over the deportations of members of the Tren de Aragua to El Salvador, authorities in Virginia have made clear their stance on the treatment of "violent criminals who exploited Biden’s border failures to terrorize Americans," in the words of the state's attorney general, Jason Miyares. But it has not remained just words, as a new interagency force "created to combat transnational organized crime and coordinate ongoing immigration efforts" in the Old Dominion has arrested 247 people in its first two weeks of life.
It was the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Erik S. Siebert, who announced the creation of the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force (VHSTF). This is an interagency group "founded to combat transnational organized crime and coordinate ongoing immigration efforts throughout Virginia."
A successful start in the fight against transnational crime
Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in its short existence. Already 247 individuals have been arrested by the VHSTF, including 18 affiliated with Mara Salvatrucha-13, six members of the Tren de Aragua and 12 individuals affiliated with other transnational criminal gangs.
As Siebert explained in a statement, "hundreds of individuals are supporting the task force, including representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI offices in Washington, Norfolk and Richmond, Homeland Security Investigations, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Virginia Attorney General's Office, the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety, the State Police and the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force."
Virginia's commitment to eradicating transnational criminals from the state
Following the controversy that arose with the attempt by a Barack Obama-appointed judge to halt the flights of Tren de Aragua gang members to El Salvador, Attorney General Miyares spoke out forcefully on X, making clear the commitment of the Virginia authorities to eradicate transnational criminals from its jurisdiction:
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