A multi-agency task force working the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area has arrested 144 suspects and seized 290 firearms, 1,124 kilograms of narcotics and more than $1 million in cash and other assets in a three-month operation aimed at cartel-linked trafficking networks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The operation, called Operation Loaded Dice, was run by Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) Core 8, which launched it in July 2026 to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, gangs and other networks involved in illicit firearms and narcotics trafficking, bulk cash smuggling and associated violent crime in southern Nevada.
Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Three months of surveillance, controlled buys and coordinated raids
ICE said the results came from intelligence-driven investigations, coordinated enforcement actions, surveillance, controlled purchases and sustained investigative partnerships. The investigations reached networks associated with the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, known as CJNG, as well as other regional drug trafficking organizations, gangs and trafficking networks operating in and around Las Vegas. The enforcement actions also led to the start of 13 HSTF investigations in coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada, meaning the cases announced on Thursday are the beginning of a prosecution pipeline, not the end of the operation. The Daily Letter, an independent Washington-based news outlet, reported the same totals — 144 arrests, 290 firearms and 1,124 kilograms of narcotics — in its own account of the announcement on October 29.
Source: The Daily Letter
What the agency chiefs said
"Operation Loaded Dice demonstrates the impact of a unified law enforcement response to the criminal organizations that endanger our communities," said Erin Burke, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles. "By combining our collective authorities, resources and expertise, the HSTF is identifying and disrupting the networks responsible for trafficking dangerous narcotics, illegal firearms and illicit proceeds." First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada called the operation "a powerful testament to the relentless dedication of our multiagency task force" and added: "By removing 144 suspects from our streets, we have dealt a decisive blow to the criminal networks attempting to exploit our community and compromise public safety."
FBI Las Vegas Special Agent in Charge Christopher S. Delzotto said strong policing "requires true partnership, respect, and community trust" and that unifying local, state and federal agencies "equips law enforcement to tackle crime collectively and save lives." DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brandon Lesky put the haul at "more than $1 million in assets, 290 firearms, and 1,100 kilograms of narcotics" — the agency's rounded figure for the same seizures — and said the whole-of-government approach is meant to keep pressure on trafficking networks after the arrests. Sheriff Kevin McMahill and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department thanked the task force partners, saying every suspect arrested, firearm recovered or case solved "makes a significant impact on the well-being of those who live in Las Vegas," while Henderson Police Chief Reggie Rader and North Las Vegas Assistant Chief Adam Hyde both stressed the cross-jurisdiction partnerships behind the sweep.
The October 29 announcement does not publish the names of the 144 people arrested or the individual charges each faces. Every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until charges are proven in court, and cases will move through federal and state proceedings coordinated with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.
A task force built under the border executive order
The Homeland Security Task Force was established under President Trump's Executive Order 14159, "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," as a whole-of-government partnership aimed at eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations and human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in the United States and abroad. HSTF Core 8 — the Las Vegas formation — is made up of special agents, officers, analysts, prosecutors and support personnel from participating federal, state, local and regional agencies. Its nine federal partners are the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Diplomatic Security Service; the Federal Air Marshal Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada; and the U.S. Marshals Service. ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Elliott Prose of the San Francisco Field Division said the Las Vegas investigations show how the task forces combine resources "to tackle the violent crime that threatens our communities head on," and U.S. Marshal Gary Schofield for the District of Nevada said the Marshals "remain relentless in our pursuit of justice."
The state, local and regional partner list shows how wide the net was cast across Nevada: the Clark County District Attorney's Office; the Henderson, Las Vegas Metropolitan, Mesquite, North Las Vegas, Reno and Sparks police departments; the Nevada Gaming Control Board; the Nevada Highway Patrol; the Nye County and White Pine County sheriff's offices; and the Washoe County Sheriff's Office. ICE says the task force also uses lawful authorities, where appropriate, to support the removal from the United States of offenders who are not U.S. citizens, alongside criminal prosecution.
Why it matters on the ground in southern Nevada
Las Vegas sits at the junction of Interstate 15 and U.S. Route 95, two of the busiest freight and travel corridors in the American Southwest, linking southern Nevada with California, Arizona and Utah. Trafficking networks use those same highways to move narcotics, firearms and bulk cash, which is why corridor cities like Las Vegas draw sustained federal attention — and why seizures measured in tonnes matter to the truckers and warehouse and hospitality workers who live along the route, including the area's Punjabi and South Asian communities. Officials framed the operation's value in exactly those community terms: fewer illegal guns and smaller drug flows in the neighbourhoods where the networks were operating.
What happens next
The 13 investigations opened alongside the arrests now sit with HSTF investigators and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada, which coordinates federal prosecutions for the task force; charging decisions, court dates and any further arrests will come out of those files in the weeks ahead, and ICE says the task force model will continue operating in the Las Vegas area. Anyone with information about suspicious trafficking activity can report it to ICE at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423).