By Heather Morrison
masslive.com
BOSTON — More than 400 people were arrested by the FBI Boston division over the summer in a nationwide “effort to crush violent crime.”
The FBI called “Operation Summer Heat” a “record-setting” operation as it aimed to remove gang members, drug traffickers, child predators and bank robbers from the streets starting on June 24 and lasting until Sept. 20.
FBI Boston ranked third among the FBI’s field offices in total arrests during this nationwide operation, according to a press release.
FBI Boston arrested 404 people in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island , took 129 drugs, recovered 38 weapons and identified or located 27 children.
Specifically in Western Massachusetts, the FBI targeted neighborhood-based gangs operating in Holyoke and open-air drug dealing at locations where there have been shootings. There were 52 arrests, multiple guns taken and drugs were seized, including heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine.
Two Massachusetts men were arrested in connection with a United States Postal Service (USPS) inspection with the FBI in Revere. And about 73 kilos of cocaine worth an estimated street value of over $1 million were seized.
Nationally, the operation led to 8,629 arrests. More than 6,500 of the arrests were under the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang program. There were also 1,053 child victims located during the operation, 2,281 weapons taken, 44,569 kilograms of cocaine found, and 421 kilograms of fentanyl removed, which is enough to kill 50 million Americans, according to the press release.
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