126 arrested, 61 weapons seized during 3-month long multi-agency gang operation

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- While a football game between the McLane Highlanders and the Yosemite Badgers was going on last month in central Fresno, outside the stadium officers who target gangs made a notable traffic stop.

"They encountered a member of a criminal street gang who was in possession of what we refer to as a ghost gun. That firearm has no serial numbers,cannot be tracked. The firearm is actually ordered in pieces off of the internet," said Fresno County Assistant Sheriff John Zanoni.

Officers say the gun was in the possession of Matthew Henderson, a validated gang member. The weapon was one of 61 taken over the past three months in Operation Triple Beam.

Tuesday officers displayed the wide-ranging gun assortment taken during the enforcement. From July through September, officers used technology, informants and various partnering agencies to temporarily disrupt gang crime.

"We focus on the most violent, the most active and the most influential gang members in our community. We target those individuals with the purpose of removing them from our society," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.

The crime crackdown resulted in the arrests of 126 people in the Fresno area.

A handful of the gang members arrested will be prosecuted by the federal government and agents are working to keep them locked up while they are going through the court system.

"These aren't guys who are on probation for jaywalking. I mean these are serious criminals and so that means that there's going to be a concerted effort by our group to go after them and then to keep them in custody," said U.S. Attorney for California's Eastern District, McGregor Scott.

Some of those arrested had warrants for crimes like homicide, others had weapons offenses. Some were also caught with drugs on them.

During the operation, officers also recovered $1,300 in cash. Some of the drugs they took as evidence include marijuana, cocaine, meth, and heroin.