U.S. Marshals National Violence Reduction Operation North Star Captures 152 Fugitives in Houston

Houston, TX – The U.S. Marshals Service has concluded a high-impact fugitive apprehension initiative aimed at combating violent crime in 10 cities that have a significant rate of homicides and shootings.

This 30-day initiative, called Operation North Star, resulted in the arrest of 152 fugitives in Houston. Violent criminals, sex offenders and self-identified gang members in Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington with outstanding violent warrants were targeted.

Operation North Star locally focused on fugitives wanted for the most serious, violent, and harmful offenses resulting in:

• 152 violent fugitive arrests
• 15 arrested for homicide
• 17 arrested for sexual offenses/assaults
• 61 arrested for assault
• 24 arrested for dangerous drugs
• 18 arrested for robbery

Because violent fugitives often arm themselves with firearms in order to protect their territory, their drug trade, or to project a violent attitude toward rival gang members or other individuals, Operation North Star also resulted in the seizure of 12 firearms, more than 2 kgs of dangerous narcotics and more than $17,000 in U.S. currency.

“The goal behind Operation North Star is simply this: empowering our communities by removing the threat of violent predators,” said U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Texas T. Michael O’Connor.

One notable arrest was fugitive Macieo White, 22, who was charged by the Houston Police Department with murder after his girlfriend and mother of his child was found shot to death in their apartment on April 13. Media coverage reported that White was on the run and police were unable to locate him and asked for the public’s help by calling Crime Stoppers. White had prior arrests and convictions for evading, aggravated assault on family, robbery, drugs and assault on a police officer. On June 14 White was located and arrested in North Houston. He was in possession of an AK-47 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol.

The concept behind interagency law enforcement operations such as Operation North Star evolved largely from regional and district task forces. Since the 1980s, the Marshals Service has combined their resources and expertise with local, state and federal agencies to find and apprehend dangerous fugitives. Operation North Star continued this tradition.

“The North Star Crime Reduction Initiative is the result of extraordinary cooperation by law enforcement at all levels,” said Houston Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “This collaboration has again worked to make our community safer. By pooling our resources, we increased arrests of serious offenders and removed weapons from our streets.”

“Criminals don’t respect human life, our laws and certainly not our jurisdictional boundaries,” said Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap. “An operation like this expands our reach where all of law enforcement works together to remove the most violent offenders from our area.”

“This operation showcases the continued extraordinary cooperation of the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force and its partners to arrest those who commit the most harmful and dangerous crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. “Whether state or federal, we will continue to work with law enforcement at every level to ensure the most serious and violent offenders in our communities face justice and are taken off the streets.”

"To fight crime effectively requires teamwork, and the North Star Crime Reduction Initiative was a success story,” said Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. “The strategy and cooperation in this operation demonstrates that agencies at all levels can work together to keep our communities safe."

“I am proud to partner with the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson. “Our community can take great pride and comfort knowing that their law enforcement partners are working closely together. This task force is a force multiplier that enables the Sheriff’s Office to reach across jurisdictional boundaries to locate, arrest and bring to justice the most violent fugitives. Operation North Star is another great example of our commitment to keep our community safe and serves as a warning to those who commit violent crimes: ‘We will find you!’”