HOUSTON – U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani announced charges against 39 people in the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Houston Violent Crime Initiative.
The initiative was conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and local, state and federal law enforcement.
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The joint effort, first announced a year ago in September of 2022, addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and associates in the southwest and southeast areas of Houston. As part of the initiative, the Criminal Division has dedicated attorneys and other resources to prosecuting violent offenders and assisting intervention, prevention and reentry efforts to address the root causes of violent crime.
The arrests were made after a federal grand jury returned seven separate indictments, with additional arrests made under four court-issued complaints, according to the release. The defendants are each alleged to be part of larger organizations involved in large-scale drug trafficking or violent robberies. Many of the charged crimes involved the illegal possession or use of firearms.
Among the charges are possession with intent to distribute cocaine, fentanyl, meth and other drugs; possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes; conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery; felon in possession of a firearm and carjacking, the release stated.
During the investigations and arrests, law enforcement seized 79 firearms, including three machineguns made by attaching a machine conversion device (MCD) to a semi-automatic firearm and three stand-alone machinegun conversion devices not attached to firearms. Also seized were a silencer, three ghost guns, an inert hand grenade, and body armor. Drugs and related items seized included approximately 248 kilograms of meth, including meth pills some of which laced with fentanyl; over 1.7 kilograms of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and PCP, as well as four pill presses and over $110,000 in cash.