Chicago police arrested 77 people in an organized takedown on Labor Day Weekend, according to a release from the Chicago Police Department.
CPD's Bureau of Organized Crime conducted a "narcotics unified enforcement mission" in the 11th and 15th districts on the city's West Side, authorities said Saturday.
Within those districts, specific areas were targeted based on feedback from aldermen and residents, past incidents of crime, and known areas of gang activity.
The raids resulted in 77 arrests, as well as the recovery of numerous guns and narcotics, according to police.
45 of the suspects arrested are documented gang members, 57 are convicted felons, 10 were out on parole, and 17 were previously arrested for gun charges, police said in a statement.
63 of the offenders were on CPD's Strategic Subject List, which calculates the likelihood that an individual will be a victim of gun violence based on contact with police, affiliations with gang members, and location, authorities said. 53 of those arrested also received enhanced charges of selling narcotics within 1000 feet of a school.
"I made a commitment to hold offenders that contribute to violence in Chicago accountable and that includes how they fund their criminal activity," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in the release. "The number of individuals that were arrested in this mission with previous gun offenses shows a clear need to impose stronger sentences for repeat gun offenders."
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11 weapons, 1 vehicle, $2,200 dollars in cash, and $65,000 worth of narcotics were also seized during these raids, police said.
The mission came at the beginning of a historically violent long holiday weekend. Labor Day Weekend in 2015 left 8 dead and 46 others wounded across Chicago, and authorities as well as activists braced themselves in preparation for this year's violence.
In the first 7 hours of the weekend, 11 people were wounded in shootings on Chicago's South and West Sides, according to police.
