ORLANDO, Fla. — Federal, state and local law enforcement arrested more than two dozen gang members, or those affiliated with gangs, in Central Florida during a nine-month investigation. 

Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Orlando Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration all took part in the investigation named Operation “X-Force.”  

Law enforcement focused on the 438 gang and Army gang. They now have 25 people in custody who are either members of these gangs or affiliated with them. Authorities said nine people are still at large. They said the two gangs are known to cause much of the violence in the area. 

Authorities said the gang members arrested in Operation “X-Force” are responsible for more than 30 shootings and several homicides. 

Operation “X-Force” came together after one tragic gang-related death last fall. A three-year-old boy in Pine Hills was shot and killed when a bullet, meant for someone else, was fired into a house by a rival gang.  

Then another tragedy happened in early May, when an innocent teenage girl was shot and killed at a gas station in Orlando by a drive-by shooter. 

The teenager was sitting in a car about to go home. Investigators said the shooting was gang-related and they arrested a suspect a few weeks later.

Orange County law enforcement said the operation was an effort to disrupt and dismantle gang violence in the area. 

“These folks have decided to pop their heads up in our community and commit violence in our community, and we’re not going to stop until they stop committing violence or they’re all in prison,” said Orange County Sheriff, John Mina. 

Authorities said the gang members they’ve arrested have committed crimes such as attempted murder, possession of firearms and ammunition by convicted felons, shooting into occupied dwellings, shooting from vehicles, drug trafficking, money laundering, bank fraud, theft, robbery and others. 

Authorities have charged 34 defendants in total. They said 32 of them were charged with racketeering offenses. 

“Our goal is to remove them from the streets, keep them off the streets, and if convicted, make sure they don’t recycle back into the community to continue their behavior,” said Ron Stucker, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation.  

Stucker said racketeering charges come with serious criminal penalties and he hopes long prison sentences will break the cycle of violence in the community. 

The Florida attorney general’s office is prosecuting the cases. In a statement, Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “We will not let violent criminals involved in a gang war run roughshod through our communities—threatening the lives and safety of our citizens.”  

Sheriff Mina said crime is down in Orange County by around 30% and attributed the decline to investigations like Operation “X-Force.” 

However, he said there is more work to do and is asking the public to come forward with any information to help put more of these gang members behind bars.