DOJ announces more than 175 charges, 300 fugitive arrests in Chicago area crime sweep

Justice Department officials on Thursday announced the arrests of 300 fugitives as well as sweeping prosecutions against more than 175 people accused of violent crimes — all part of a massive federal law enforcement collaboration over the past two months.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros called the effort, which he created, “Operation New Dawn.”

“A new dawn of crime fighting is underway in Chicago,” Boutros, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said alongside other federal law enforcement leaders at a news conference Thursday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. He said the announcement was timed to coincide with the country’s 250th anniversary July 4.

The size of the joint effort was “an experiment,” Boutros said — and something that “had not been done before here in Chicago" and which “worked very, very well.”

In all, charges were filed against 179 people in 140 new cases, while 305 fugitives were arrested and 24 children who had been kidnapped or lost were returned home.

“Eleven federal agencies worked arm-in-arm as one cohesive, unified group to arrest dangerous criminals responsible for some of the most serious offenses,” Boutros said.

The 60-day operation was focused on the Chicago area and the Northern District of Illinois. It included partnerships between 11 federal agencies, among them the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Federal Bureau of Investigations; the Drug Enforcement Agency; U.S. Marshals Service; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The dozens of new charges range from murder, kidnapping, and firearm and drug trafficking.

“This is a whole of government approach that we’ve taken not only in the city of Chicago, but Chicago, I think, is one of the biggest and shiniest examples that we can use of success when the government works together to use all of the expertise that each of us brings to the table to reduce violent crime in our cities across the United States,” ATF Director Robert Cekada said.

At the news conference, officials displayed photos of large amounts of guns, drugs and money that were seized during the investigation.