DOJ announces 60-day, multi-agency Chicagoland sting nabbing 305 'fugitives,' reunites 24 lost kids

Twenty-four children have been reunited with their families, 305 fugitives arrested, and 179 charges filed against defendants in 140 cases in a multi-agency federal operation, says the Justice Department in annoucing a weeks-long, multi-agency operation.  

The DOJ posted on Thursday that 11 agencies had participated "as part of this first-of-its-kind ‘badgeless’ enforcement initiative in Chicagoland in recognition of our nation’s 250th Birthday that focused on a single mission for roughly 60 days: to set aside barriers and focus exclusively on disrupting violence in the Chicago and Rockford areas by arresting the worst of the worst offenders."

Chicagoland is the informal name for the area around Chicago and includes counties from Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. 

According to the department’s report, the crackdown effort included such agencies as the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.

“It is my view that to combat violence, federal law enforcement must move at the speed of violence,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew S. Boutros, who spearheaded the operation. “Our law enforcement goal was singular: to tackle the scourge of violence that has gripped this incredible, American city for too long."

The DOJ also said that the operation, which began on May 1, had “exceeded all expectations.”

Many of the 305 fugitives have previously been charged with serious criminal offenses. Federal agencies sought to arrest suspects accused of offenses like kidnapping, robbery, immigration violations, child exploitation, drug trafficking, and firearm offenses. As well, "24 children, many of whom were kidnapped, were located and safely returned home," DOJ's release said.

Among those arrested included an individual who had fired shots in an occupied bus, an individual who committed armed robberies across the Chicagoland area, as well as an individual who was accused of selling a machine gun conversion device to undercover agents, according to the ATF. 

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also reported arrests of an illegal immigrant convicted of first-degree murder, a ranking member of a street gang who oversaw drug distribution, and an illegal immigrant convicted of aggravated battery of a government official.

According to data from the Chicago Police Department, crime rates had dropped in Chicago in 2025, with the number of murders declining by 29 percent from the year prior, robbery decreasing by 36 percent, and burglary declining by 20 percent. Overall, criminal complaints were down by 13 percent in the city.