(HOUSTON, TX) – As part of the FBI’s national Operation Summer Heat targeting violent crime, FBI Houston arrested 64 individuals, seized more than $600,000 of illicit proceeds, and recovered 65 weapons along with 339 machine gun conversion devices. As part of the operation, FBI Houston agents and police partners also seized more than 85 kilograms of cocaine, 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 28 kilograms of fentanyl.
Between June 24 and Sept. 20, FBI field offices nationwide participated in the multi-pronged offensive to crush violent crime. The FBI surged resources along with state and local partners, executing federal warrants on violent criminals and fugitives, dismantling violent gangs, and resolving violent crime cases. Key highlights from FBI Houston’s three-month operation include:
• Eighteen members and associates of the Anti-Tren gang, a splinter rival of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) terrorist organization, were arrested in the largest operation of its kind in the United States.
• The inaugural announcement of the Houston Most Wanted fugitive list resulted in the swift capture of three dangerous criminals. In under two hours, alleged bank robber Gerrode Terrel Smith was arrested. Less than two weeks later, suspected armed robber Jamale Jones was apprehended; just nine days later, alleged murderer Christian “Gucci” Rucker was also captured.
• Over 23 kilograms of fentanyl, 12 kilograms of meth, and four firearms were seized during an operation targeting violent Gangster Disciples in Houston.
• A total of 339 machine gun conversion devices were recovered, preventing violent criminals from turning semi-automatic guns into deadly, unregistered fully automatic weapons.
• Twelve alleged members of a violent serial robbery crew who targeted commercial jewelry stores were arrested by FBI Houston agents and Texas law enforcement partners.
“Violent criminals who terrorize our neighborhoods with indiscriminate gunfire and poison our communities with lethal drugs are feeling the full force of FBI Houston and our partners,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. “Operation Summer Heat decisively targeted criminals who devastated lives and disrupted communities. We dismantled gangs who turned neighborhoods into war zones, drug dealers who flooded our streets with fentanyl, and foreign terrorists who endangered innocent American lives. Although Operation Summer Heat has concluded, FBI Houston and our partners will continue to eradicate violent criminals in our communities.”
Nationally, Operation Summer Heat led to 8,629 arrests, with more than 6,500 falling under the FBI’s Violent Crime and Gang program. These operations also led to the seizure of 2,281 weapons, 44,569 kilograms of cocaine, and 421 kilograms of fentanyl— enough to kill 50 million Americans. During Operation Summer Heat, FBI Houston worked closely with the Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Conroe Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S.
The mission of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.
For more information, visit www.FBI.gov .
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Houston Field Division.
