Federal sweep nets six arrests in Lake County

Six people with ties to gangs were arrested in Lake County as part of a nationwide sweep aimed at curbing the activity of gangs with international ties, federal immigration officials said.

The arrests took place during a six-week operation in which federal agents with Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement lent staff, technology and funding to help local agencies investigate serious gang activity, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.

Four people were arrested in Clearlake, one in Upper Lake and one in Lakeport on March 24, Kice said. They were arrested on charges such as possession of drug paraphernalia, probation violations and outstanding warrants.

Kice said all of those arrested were U.S. citizens and included a woman. They belong to gangs such as the Modesto Hardcore Skinheads and the norteños, Kice said.

ICE officials announced the arrests this week, calling the effort “Project Wildfire,” and said that they helped local agencies arrest nearly 976 suspected gang members across the country. That number includes 50 individuals arrested throughout the Bay Area.

The project did not result in any arrests in Sonoma, Mendocino or Napa counties, Kice said.

Kice said that the vast majority of individuals arrested in the Bay Area were booked into local jails on local charges. She said the goal was to target individuals affiliated with gangs with international connections.

Homeland Security agents worked with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office gang unit, Kice said.

The operation took place between Feb. 23 and March 31.

Photographs of the arrests provided by federal authorities depict a roadside arrest with Clear Lake in the background and another man being arrested in front of a white lattice fence. The suspects’ faces are blurred as are the faces of the law enforcement officers.

Kice described the operation as “a force multiplier” to help local agencies disrupt local gang activity.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.