Operation FALCON (Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally) is the name of several week-long dragnets organized by the

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a Government agency, bureau within the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Depa ...

. FALCON I occurred between April 4 and 10, 2005 (also

Crime Victims' Rights Week National Crime Victims' Rights Week is an annual commemoration in the United States that promotes victims' rights and services. The week is marked by an award ceremony held in Washington, D.C., in which individuals and organizations that demonstr ...

), FALCON II during the week of April 17–23, 2006, and FALCON III from October 22–28, 2006. During FALCON I, a total of 10,340 federal fugitives were arrested in all 50

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s as well as

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

by some 3,000 to 10,000

law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialists, local police officers, pro ...

s from such agencies as the

ATF The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preven ...

, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

, the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

, and the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and U ...

. FALCON netted the largest number of arrests ever recorded during a single operation. This included the arrests of 162 accused or convicted of murder, 638 wanted for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, 553 wanted for rape or sexual assault, 154 gang members, and 106 unregistered sex offenders. The greatest category of arrests (4,291) was for narcotics violations. Other large classes of wanted fugitives arrested included 1818

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murde ...

suspects and 1727

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

suspects. In addition to the arrests, 243 weapons, 30 kg of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

, 19 kg of heroin, 204 kg of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

and $373,000 in cash was seized by Operation FALCON teams. Although the Marshals Service provided coordination for the sweep, most of the manpower for the arrests came from local law enforcement: 206 state law enforcement agencies, 302 county sheriffs' departments, and 366 city police departments were involved, as well as 25 federal agencies and all 83 districts of the U.S. Marshals Service, which allocated about $900,000 to the operation.

External links

CNN Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Falcon Law enforcement operations in the United States United States Marshals Service 2005 in the United States 2006 in the United States