Oklahoma City: 262 Arrested, 5 Missing Children Found in Gang Crime Sweep

U.S. Marshals
Shane T. McCoy / US Marshals

The U.S. Marshals Service announced Thursday that a 60-day anti-gang crime operation resulted in the arrest of 262 suspects and the recovery of five missing children in Oklahoma City.

KFOR reports:

Operation Triple Beam ended on Sept. 6 and ultimately resulted in 262 arrests, including six homicide suspects, 21 assault suspects, 21 burglary suspects, 88 weapons offense suspects and 57 drug offense suspects, according to a U.S. Marshals Service news release.

[…]

Five missing children were located and recovered as a result of the operation, according to the news release.

Law enforcement officers participating in the operation seized 72 firearms, over 9 kilograms of narcotics and nearly $17,000 in currency, the news release states.

“Operation Triple Beam OKC was a targeted enforcement initiative by the Marshals and their partners to address violent crime in and around Oklahoma City,” U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Oklahoma Johnny Kuhlman said in a statement. “Our primary goal with operations like OTB is to make communities safer. When we arrest these violent fugitives, we are also removing guns and narcotics from our streets. We believe these efforts have an immediate, positive impact on the communities we serve.”

The development comes after the U.S. Marshals Service recently announced 39 endangered children had been rescued in Georgia as part of the agency’s “Operation Not Forgotten.” The two-week mission undertaken in Atlanta and Macon resulted in 26 children being rescued and 13 more safely found.

“When we track down fugitives, it’s a good feeling to know that we’re putting the bad guy behind bars. But that sense of accomplishment is nothing compared to finding a missing child,” the U.S. Marshals Service said of the mission. “It’s hard to put into words what we feel when we rescue a missing child, but I can tell you that this operation has impacted every single one of us out here. We are working to protect them and get them the help they need.”

Another mission, dubbed “Operation Safety Net,” led to the discovery of 25 children ages 13 to 18 in Northeast Ohio, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The operation could stretch into October.

“These are kids that have been abused, neglected. Some involved in human trafficking. Sometimes the situations they—they go to, believe it or not, may be better than the situations they left from,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated.

“We’ve had some cases where the mother and or father, or both, may have been prostituting their own child,” he added.

Around 200 children are presently listed as missing in Northeast Ohio.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.