History - Fugitive Investigative Strike Teams
(FIST)
Fugitive Investigations - Creative Stings
Operation FIST IX, Fugitive Round Up in the Southwest
FIST 9 included 31 state and local law enforcement agencies from Arizona,
California, New Mexico, and Texas,
along with the former Immigration and
Naturalization Service and the former U.S Border
Patrol, and the Mexican Federal Judicial
Police. The FIST teams, comprised of
Deputy U.S. Marshals and officers of
the other agencies, operated out of eight
U.S. cities and five in Mexico.
During eight weeks of operation and
following months of preparation and
planning, the FIST 9 teams conducted
fugitive investigations from operational
sites in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; San Diego, California,
Albuquerque, New Mexico; El Paso, San Antonio, McAllen and Houston,
Texas; and the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Nogales, Juarez, Matamoras,
and Mexico City.
"Good, traditional police work" resulted in the successful roundup of
more than 3,500 fugitives in the U.S. Marshals Service's ninth Fugitive
Investigative Strike Team (FIST) operation. A total of 268 officers from
35 participating agencies began the fugitive roundup on February 18 and
concluded on April 14, 1986.
"The success of this operation demonstrated that national and
international cooperation in law enforcement is both possible and is a
very efficient law enforcement strategy, " said former Director Stanley
E. Morris. ''It also shows that fugitives can run, but they can't hide
from justice when law enforcement agencies at all levels work together.
"
Of the 3,506 fugitives arrested, 45 were wanted for murder and 22 for
attempted murder; 82 for rape; 712 for robbery/burlary; 25 for
kidnapping; and 734 for major narcotics violations.
The average cost per arrest in FISTS 9 was $466.
In addition to the arrests, more
than
$130 million worth of drugs and other
contraband were seized. A major drug
seizure was made by Deputies working
with the Texas Department of Public
Safety in McAllen. Texas. About 860
pounds of cocaine were discovered in a
tractor-trailer under a bed of onions.
Three people were arrested, and the
drugs were seized along with a tractor trailer,
car, pickup truck, and a large
quantity of cash. |
