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Officials renew effort to take gun cases to federal court

BALTIMORE — Law enforcement officials in Baltimore are renewing an effort to prosecute gun crimes in federal court.

News outlets report that the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Maryland on Wednesday unveiled a renewed push of the initiative known as Project Exile with the addition of three more local and federal prosecutors.

The local effort, part of a national program, represents a partnership of the U.S. attorney’s office, federal agents, Baltimore police, prosecutors and Maryland’s attorney general to steer gun cases from state to federal court.

Starting last year, Gov. Larry Hogan’s office funded four special assistant U.S. attorneys to take gun cases to federal court. There’s no parole in the federal court system, and convictions typically bring a longer prison terms.

Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration

WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday.  Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.
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