ICE Houston arrests 23 gang members, associates during operation targeting MS-13
HOUSTON — Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston – along with various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies – arrested 23 gang members and gang associates during a 26-day surge operation targeting MS-13 gang members in the Houston area, which ended May 31. Thirteen of those arrested during this operation are confirmed MS-13 gang members or gang associates.
Three of the MS-13 gang members, all Salvadoran nationals, were arrested on murder charges: Francisco Flores-Salazar, 19, Mario Guevara-Flores, 26, and Francisco Alberto Ancheta-Aquino, 21.
As gang activity has increased in Houston in recent years, HSI Houston and the Texas Anti-Gang (TAG) Center have ramped up their law enforcement efforts to confront the problem head-on.
The following law enforcement agencies assisted with HSI Houston’s 26-day anti-gang operation: Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division; Houston Police Department; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Houston; HSI El Salvador’s Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit; Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Marshals Service Houston; Houston Independent School District Police Department; and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Houston.
In fiscal year 2018, HSI arrested 959 MS-13 gang members and associates nationwide.