FBI announces 65 arrests in South Florida violent crime crackdown
The operation, conducted from mid-May to late June 2025, focused on apprehending the most violent offenders across South Florida, the FBI said.
Collaborative law enforcement effort
Operation Viper deployed a Violent Crime Rapid Deployment Team to support local agencies in Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Miramar, Miami Gardens and Pembroke Pines, the FBI said.
The team, comprising of approximately 35 FBI agents, task force officers and local law enforcement, coordinated daily to execute arrests and investigations, resulting in 60 local and five federal arrests, the FBI reported.
Targeted arrests and community impact
Fort Lauderdale saw the highest number of arrests, with 16 individuals apprehended for crimes including armed robbery, burglary, grand theft, drug trafficking and firearms offenses, Fort Lauderdale Police Chief William Schultz said.
In Miami, authorities targeted a criminal enterprise originating in Little Haiti, which had grown to impact broader areas of South Florida, City of Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales stated.
Miami Gardens Police Assistant Chief Joseph Nargiso reported two arrests of documented gang members suspected of homicide.
The operation also responded to a false swatting call at Stoneman Douglas High School in Fort Lauderdale on May 21, showcasing the rapid response enabled by the FBI's presence, Schultz added.
The FBI emphasized that Operation Viper's success stemmed from trust and shared commitment among agencies.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
6 minutes ago
- Forbes
You Must Stop These Calls On Your iPhone Or Android Phone
Do not take these calls. Smartphone users are at risk from criminals 'capitalizing on fear and intimidation,' the FBI warns, as a malicious new attack surges. All iPhone and Android users are now told: 'Be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognize.' The attack is as simple as it is devious. Criminals pretend to be federal agents or police officers and then work up a scam that ultimately demands payment to avoid an arrest or court appearance or jury duty or worse. And victims fall for it. 'Because nobody wants to be the subject of a law enforcement investigation,' the FBI says. We have seen such attacks across the U.S., but the latest warning comes from Boston, where the FBI issued a statement assuring citizens that 'law enforcement and federal agencies do not call individuals threatening arrest or demanding money.' Increasingly these attacks make use of spoofed phone numbers, which can make it appear that the call is coming from an FBI field office or similar. As ever, smartphone users are told not to engage or react. Hang-up, and if you have any doubts whether it's a scam, you should call the authorities independently to check. Impersonation scams are soaring Ted Docks, the bureau's SAIC in Boston, told local media: 'We've seen an increase in these scams which is why we're reminding the public to resist the urge to act immediately and verify who is actually contacting you.' This is a nationwide threat. In a separate warning, the FBI's Charlotte NC field office has warned that citizens are being called to be told they have missed jury duty and are now subject to a federal arrest warrant. 'Legitimate arrest warrants are not emailed or texted,' the bureau said in a statement. 'They are served by a law enforcement officer or court official and never include a demand for payment to avoid jail time,' The FBI's advice is simple: 'Trust your instincts and hang up on callers who make you feel pressured or uncomfortable.' The fact these impersonation scams are surging tells you they're working. And while readers of cybersecurity articles are more scam-aware than most, the real threat is to the less technically savvy and especially to the elderly. It's worth warning those around you that might be vulnerable to such attacks.
Boston Globe
6 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Senate confirms Trump lawyer Emil Bove, pushing past whistleblower claims
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Bove has accused FBI officials of 'insubordination' for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the attack and ordered the firing of a group of prosecutors involved in those Jan. 6 criminal cases. Advertisement Democrats have also cited evidence from two whistleblowers, a fired department lawyer who said earlier this month that Bove had suggested the Trump administration may need to ignore judicial commands — Advertisement The audio is from a private video conference call at the Department of Justice in February in which Bove, a top official at the department, discussed his handling of the dismissed case against Adams, according to transcribed quotes from the audio reviewed by The Associated Press. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the whistleblower has not made the recording public. The whistleblower's claims were first reported by the Washington Post. None of that evidence has so far been enough to sway Senate Republicans — all but two of them voted to confirm Bove as GOP senators have deferred to Trump on virtually all of his picks. At his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Bove addressed criticism of his tenure head-on, telling lawmakers he understands some of his decisions 'have generated controversy.' But Bove said he has been inaccurately portrayed as Trump's 'henchman' and 'enforcer' at the department. Senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing asked Bove about the February 14 call with lawyers in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which had received significant public attention because of his unusual directive that the attorneys had an hour to decide among themselves who would agree to file on the department's behalf the motion to dismiss the case against Adams. The call was convened amid significant upheaval in the department as prosecutors in New York who'd handled the matter, as well as some in Washington, resigned rather than agree to dispense with the case. According to the transcript of the February call, Bove remarked near the outset that interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon 'resigned about ten minutes before we were going to put her on leave pending an investigation.' But when asked at the hearing whether he had opened the meeting by emphasizing that Sassoon and another prosecutor had refused to follow orders and that Sassoon was going to be reassigned before she resigned, Bove answered with a simple, 'No.' Advertisement At another moment, Bove said he did not recall saying words that the transcript of the call reflects him as having said — that whoever signed the motion to dismiss the Adams case would emerge as leaders of the section. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday that he believes Bove will be a 'diligent, capable and fair jurist.' He said his staff had tried to investigate the claims but that lawyers for the whistleblowers would not give them all of the materials they had asked for. The 'vicious rhetoric, unfair accusations and abuse directed at Mr. Bove' have 'crossed the line,' Grassley said. The first whistleblower complaint against Bove came from a former Justice Department lawyer who was fired in April after conceding in court that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland, was mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison. That lawyer, Erez Reuveni, described efforts by top Justice Department officials in the weeks before his firing to stonewall and mislead judges to carry out deportations championed by the White House. Reuveni described a Justice Department meeting in March concerning Trump's plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni said Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity in saying the department would need to consider telling the courts what to do and 'ignore any such order,' Reuveni's lawyers said in the filing. Advertisement Bove said he has 'no recollection of saying anything of that kind.'
Fox News
7 hours ago
- Fox News
Arkansas couple murdered in state park were ‘protecting their little girls' from killer, family says
Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor reports the FBI is joining the search for the killer suspected of murdering a couple in Arkansas' Devil's Den State Park on 'Special Report.'
