Federal gang investigation nets 2 Lexington County arrests

A five-week federal operation targeting gangs has netted 17 arrests in South Carolina – including two in Lexington County.

The operation, called Project Shadowfire, totaled 1,133 arrests, according to a release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. More than 900 of those arrests involved suspected gang members and others involved with drug trafficking, human smuggling, sex trafficking, murder and racketeering, according to the release.

Of those 17 arrests, two were from Lexington County, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said. Other arrests were in Charleston County, Colleton County, Darlington County and Dorchester County.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations team led the investigation, which concluded March 21.

“This operation is the latest example of ICE’s ongoing efforts, begun more than a decade ago under Operation Community Shield, to target violent gang members and their associates, to eradicate the violence they inflict upon our communities and to stop the cash flow to transnational organized crime groups operating overseas,” ICE Director Sarah R. Saldaña said in a statement.

Agents seized 150 firearms, more than 20 kilograms of narcotics and more than $70,000 in cash, according to the release.

This story was originally published March 28, 2016 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Federal gang investigation nets 2 Lexington County arrests."