A total of 97 people were arrested in Miami Gardens as part of a multi-agency operation, authorities said Wednesday.
Nearly 250 weapons were seized and many drugs were seized during Operation Smoking Gun III.
"Guns and drugs always, always, always lead to violence and death," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
The State Attorney's Office worked undercover with Miami Gardens Police, state agencies, and the U.S. Marshals for a year to make the streets of Miami Gardens safer.
"I pray that the city of Miami Gardens residents can breathe a little bit easier tonight because we got these individuals off the street," said Hugo J. Berrera, with the Miami Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The focus of the operation were violent criminals, gang members and convicted felons.
"The bottom line is what they tried to do is make money at the misery of other people," Fernandez Rundle said.
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All of the 248 guns, including one sawed-off shotgun, that were recovered, will be traced.
U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said if the weapons were still on the street, he knows what would happen.
"Death," Ferrer said. "It leads to devastating our communities, destroying our communities, and taking away the future of a lot of our children."
