The Justice Department on Thursday highlighted hundreds of arrests made during Operation Show Me Justice, a months-long public safety initiative in St. Louis, Missouri.
Launched in August, the operation brought together the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Louis Police Department to pursue gun, drug and other criminal activity across the city.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter announced the operation’s completion at a Thursday news conference with Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.
Federal authorities make an arrest in St. Louis, Missouri, on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. (Mike Tobin/Fox News)
“Through Operation Show Me Justice, the teams have arrested 435 for drug crimes, firearm crimes, other crimes. That includes 412 outstanding warrant arrests,” McCotter told reporters. “Most of these individuals already had outstanding warrants for arrest. Many of them had multiple.”
Authorities also seized 80 kilograms of drugs, 166 illegal firearms, six machine-gun conversion devices and more than $1 million in cash, McCotter said.
McCotter encouraged mayors, city councils and state officials nationwide to work with federal agencies on comparable operations in their own communities.
“The mission here rests on a simple premise, which is we don’t have to accept violent crime. It’s not something you have to shrug your shoulders at. It is not a fact of life in a city or anywhere else,” McCotter said.
“I want to say something to all the mayors, the city councils, governors, police chiefs who are out there watching now: Violence is not inevitable. We want to partner with you. We want to work with you. We want to help you,” he added.
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Federal authorities have so far joined state and local law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C., and Memphis for similar initiatives.
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – OCTOBER 11: Members of the National Guard patrol on October 11, 2025 in Memphis, Tennessee. National Guard members began patrolling Memphis this week as part of a federal task force established by President Trump to combat what the administration says is violent crime in the city. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Thursday’s announcement came about a week after federal and state authorities in California launched a major enforcement action in Los Angeles’ notorious Skid Row district.
Under Operation Save Skid Row, federal and city officials served 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants as they moved to disrupt drug distribution networks operating in the neighborhood.
Law enforcement officers look at encampments that had been taped off in Skid Row on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026 in Los Angeles. Federal law enforcement officials, along with the Los Angeles Police Department, are targeting drug dealing in Downtown Los Angeles with “Operation Save Skid Row.” (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
More than 100 law enforcement vehicles took part in the Los Angeles operation. Officials said those arrested included alleged members of several gangs, including the Main Street Crips, Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips and Pueblo Bishop Bloods.
“We are no longer going to have open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone on Skid Row,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference. “And that is the reason you see so many homeless people who are experiencing psychotic episodes, who are unwell, they aren’t seeking help, it’s because you have people, like the drug dealers we are arresting today, keeping them addicted and taking their public assistance money to pay for their drugs.”
