A three-week operation in Georgia has led to the arrest of 78 wanted suspects along with the seizure of illegal firearms and dozens of pounds of narcotics, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The federal law enforcement agency said in an April 9 statement that it worked with officials in Clayton County and other organizations to target “individuals wanted for violent and serious felony offenses, including murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, child molestation, rape, weapons-related offenses, and violations of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act.”
Aside from the arrests, officials recovered 46 illegal firearms and 57 pounds of illegal narcotics and also seized $18,000 in U.S. currency, according to the statement.
Acting U.S. Marshal Stephen Serrao for the Northern District of Georgia said in a statement that the agency will keep working with local law enforcement divisions to locate and capture wanted individuals.
“This operation is another example of the hard and dangerous work being performed every day by the brave men and women of the United States Marshals Service,” Serrao said. “We are using all the resources available to the Marshals Service to remove wanted felons from our communities.”
The operation was conducted between March 16 and April 3, the U.S. Marshals stated.
In recent weeks, the U.S. Marshals confirmed separate operations in other cities that resulted in the arrests of dozens of fugitives, including in Louisiana, as well as Memphis, Tennessee, and Dallas.
The announcement comes as violent crimes declined significantly in 2025. Data collected from 35 American cities show a 21 percent decrease in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025, translating to about 922 fewer homicides last year, according to a report from the independent Council on Criminal Justice that was released in January 2026.
The report tracked 13 types of crime and recorded drops last year in 11 of those categories, including carjackings, shoplifting, aggravated assaults, and others. Drug crimes saw a small increase over the past year, and sexual assaults stayed even between 2024 and 2025, the study found.
U.S. property crimes detailed in the report also declined, including a 27 percent drop in vehicle thefts and a 10 percent drop in shoplifting among the reporting cities.
The council’s report showed a decrease in the homicide rate in 31 of 35 cities, including a decrease of 40 percent or more in Denver; Omaha, Nebraska; and Washington. The only city included that reported a double-digit increase was Little Rock, Arkansas, where the homicide rate increased by 16 percent from 2024.
The vast majority of Americans, or 81 percent, see crime as a “major problem” in large cities, according to a survey released last year by the Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
