Illinois Police Sting Took Down East St. Louis Violent Offenders

It takes quite an effort to go after the worst of the worst, but that's exactly what Illinois State Police just did as they recently completed an operation that took down many violent offenders in the East St. Louis metro area.

The Public Information Office of the Illinois State Police just released information about a secretive operation they just completed between October 1 and October 3 in the East St. Louis area of the state. Here is what they accomplished during that 3 day sting operation:

• Arrests - 27
• Felony Charges - 41
• Criminal Charges - 57
• Firearm Related Charges - 27
• Firearms Seized - 12
• Controlled Substance Seized - 115 grams
• Stolen Vehicles Recovered - 3

Keep in mind that's during only 3 days in one part of Illinois. That's a crazy number of arrests and felony charges, but East St. Louis is a challenging place, too. In the press release, the Illinois State Police said they found one "ghost gun" which is a firearm with no identifiable markings.

Another vehicle search led to what Illinois State Police say appeared to be "suspected fentanyl, a loaded handgun, and an additional loaded firearm magazine". Ecstasy was reportedly found in another car along with numerous firearms.

All of these violent offenders dealt with took the efforts of many different law enforcement units including "40 ISP officers from around the state, including Troop 7, Troop 8, Troop 10, South Fatal Four Team, Statewide Anti-Violence Enforcement South Team, Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 6, Firearms Investigations Unit, and the Public Safety Enforcement Group joined forces with the Special Operation Group Statewide Anti-Violence Enforcement Unit" according to the Illinois State Police press release.