Operation Triple Beam Honey Badger Nets More Than 260 Arrests, 80+ Guns, Drugs in the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Milwaukee, WI - The U.S. Marshals of the Eastern District of Wisconsin worked in partnership with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners during a two-month targeted enforcement operation to remove violent criminals from communities in Milwaukee.

"Noticing an increase in violent crime, we conducted Operation Triple Beam Honey Badger," said U.S. Marshal Anna Ruzinski. "This enforcement operation, which was conducted from May 22, 2022 through July 31, was conducted for the sole purpose of arresting violent offenders and removing illegal guns and drugs from our communities."

The statistics below represent the accomplishments of Operation Triple Beam Honey Badger:

Total Arrests: 268 (86 confirmed gang/organized group members or associates)

Total Warrants/Charges Cleared:  860

• Homicide: 47
• Recklessly Endangering Safety (non-fatal shootings): 81
• Narcotics: 220
• Robbery: 17
• Sex Crimes / Offenders: 60
• Firearms Offenses: 122
• Other Violent Offenses: 42
• Other Non-Violent Offenses: 271

Narcotics Seizures:

Cocaine/Cocaine Base, Heroin, Fentanyl, Marijuana, Methamphetamine, Ecstasy, Oxycodone, and other various pills totaling 55.69 kilos

Street value between $750,000 and $1,110,000 depending on current prices

Property Seizures:

• Firearms: 84
• Facsimile Firearms: 8
• Suppressor: 1
• Ammunition: 3,305 rounds
• U.S. Currency: $284,016
• Cellphones: 35
• Vehicles: 2

The enforcement activity was focused on the Milwaukee/Waukesha Metropolitan area, Racine, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, Green Bay, Oshkosh, and Appleton. Aside from warrants being cleared, 180 new summary charges were referred to the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) or the local District Attorney’s Office where the arrests were made.

"This type of success could not have happened without the assistance of our local, state, and federal task force officers," said Ruzinski. "Operation Honey Badger was very effective, and I'm proud to say not one law enforcement officer, offender, or citizen was injured during the execution of this operation. I am proud of our Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Jeremy Loesch and his team."

Ruzinski would like to thank the following departments for their participation in Operation Honey Badger and the Eastern District of Wisconsin looks forward to continued collaboration with these departments and agencies to continue the mission.

Federal Agencies:

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms
• Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations