Major East St. Louis Crackdown Ends With 26 Felony Charges

How much crime happens in East St. Louis these days? A new report from the Illinois State Police will give you an idea as a two-night crackdown resulted in 26 felony charges.

The Public Information Office of the Illinois State Police just released details of what happened on the streets of the East St. Louis metro area on June 11 and 12. It was a violent crime suppression operation that netted the following stunning numbers:

Arrests 24
Total Criminal Charges 40
Felony Charges 26
Firearm Related Charges 9
Firearms Seized/Recovered 8
Cannabis Seized 287.5 grams
Controlled Substance Seized 198.5 grams

According to additional details released by the Illinois State Police, several of these charges were the result of probable cause traffic searches which yielded many loaded weapons and narcotics. This sweep wasn't just East St. Louis, but also neighboring Metro East communities and was an effort by the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement agencies and task forces including patrol Troops 3, 6, and 8, ISP Fatal 4 South, Zone 6 Firearms Investigations Unit, Public Safety Enforcement Group, Crime Scene Services, ISP SWAT, and ISP Air Operations, assisted ISP Statewide Anti-Violence Enforcement South with support from the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois.

Illinois State Police and coordinating agencies employed new technology to assist in this violent crime suppression and that included some air operations, too. It's all part of an effort to target known high crime areas, violent offenders, and structured criminal groups in the East St. Louis area and make those mean streets a little less so.