The Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and others today announced the conclusion of Operation Show Me Justice, an ATF-led high-impact violent crime enforcement surge in St. Louis.

The DOJ-sponsored operation was a whole-of-government initiative led by ATF and carried out in close coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and in partnership with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, USMS, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

"Operation Show Me Justice demonstrates exactly what happens when federal, state, and local partners unite behind a single mission: protecting communities from violent criminals," said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. "The results speak for themselves. Dangerous criminals are off the streets, their weapons are out of circulation, and families in St. Louis are safer today than they were before."

"Operation Show Me Justice delivered the kind of decisive action the public should expect from ATF," said ATF Director Rob Cekada. "We removed violent offenders from the street, cut off their access to firearms, and dealt a significant blow to the criminal networks endangering this community."

"By removing these dangerous firearms from St Louis, together, we have achieved unprecedented results, not just for the partners who participated in Operation Show Me Justice, but for all the residents, commuters, students, and visitors to the Gateway City," said Director Gadyaces S. Serralta of the U.S. Marshals Service.

"We in St. Louis are very grateful for the women and men of ATF who left home, came to our community, and faced daily danger to assist in this enforcement effort," said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus for the Eastern District of Missouri. "Just as important, we are grateful to all local, state, and federal law enforcement and prosecutors who fight violent crime every day and who will remain. We are in this for the long haul and want so much to help continue to drive down violence for the health and safety of our city that we love."

"Driving down violent crime takes relentless follow-through, and our partnership with ATF and our other law enforcement partners helps us turn local intelligence into cases that hold violent offenders accountable," said St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert J. Tracy. "Operation Show Me Justice builds on that daily collaboration and our commitment to lasting progress-so every neighborhood can experience a safer St. Louis."

Photo of law enforcement as part of Operation Show Me Justice.

The operation focused on violent criminal conduct and the illegal supply of firearms to violent offenders. During the operation, ATF and its partners arrested more than 435 violent offenders, including individuals with histories of possessing machine guns illegally, carrying stolen firearms, resisting arrest, violating felon-in-possession laws, engaging in straw purchasing, and committing other serious weapons-related offenses.

Agents, officers, analysts, and prosecutors combined local intelligence with ballistic leads from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and insights from crime-gun tracing to drive investigations forward. This coordinated approach enabled investigators to connect shootings, link firearms to multiple crime scenes, identify gun and drug trafficking patterns, and develop leads that otherwise would remain isolated across jurisdictions.

Photo of illegal firearms, ammunition, and narcotics seized as a result of Operation Show Me Justice. Photo of an illegal firearm seized as a result of Operation Show Me Justice.

NIBIN compares ballistic evidence from crime scenes with test-fired shell casings from recovered firearms, generating actionable leads. Crime-gun tracing tracks a firearm's commercial history, from the manufacturer or importer to its first retail sale. When paired with traditional investigative work, these tools help investigators identify shooters, associates, firearms traffickers, and sources of crime guns fueling violence.

Operation Show Me Justice has delivered significant enforcement results in St. Louis, with 435 criminal arrests and 166 firearms seized to date. Participating agencies have cleared 412 warrants, including the execution of 32 search warrants, and seized 81 kilograms of drugs, six machine gun conversion devices, and more than $1.25 million in currency related to suspected illegal firearms and drug transactions.

Photo of individual arrested during Operation Show Me Justice. Photo of currency and illegal firearms seized as a result of Operation Show Me Justice.