‘Violent crime’ crackdown nets 36 metro-east arrests by Illinois State Police
Nearly 60 Illinois State Police officers from across Illinois staffed a “violent crime suppression detail” in the East St. Louis area last week and arrested 36 people, the agency announced Monday.
This was at least the 16th multi-day operation conducted by Illinois State Police since June 2023 in the metro-east, according to a Belleville News-Democrat review of state police announcements.
These operations have yielded a total of 575 arrests and 266 firearms being seized.
In the latest crackdown, 20 firearms were seized along with the 36 arrests on May 6-8 in St. Clair and Madison counties with a focus on East St. Louis and neighboring communities, according to a news release from Illinois State Police.
The names of the 36 people arrested were not released.
On May 7, troopers conducted a traffic stop and two passengers ran from the vehicle, according to the news release.
Troopers chased after the suspects but did not catch them. However, an AR-15 style rifle was seized during the chase.
Other details of this traffic stop were not released but the officials said the investigation is continuing.
In a traffic stop on May 6, a vehicle search yielded in the seizure of “a loaded firearm and a large amount of illegal cannabis,” according to the news release.
Members of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted state troopers in the operation.
