Massive police undercover operation leads to over 100 arrests

Some of the people arrested were selling stolen CDs and electronics from this store on Richmond Highway, Alexandria.[Police photo]

Officers and detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department, Prince
William County Police Department, and the Virginia State Police on Oct. 18 announced the arrest of at least 101
people as a result of a nearly year-long, mostly undercover operation.

The operation was centered along the lower portion of the Richmond Highway
corridor in Fairfax County and extending to Prince William County.

The criminal charges, totaling 168, include murder for hire; drug possession
(cocaine, oxycodone, heroin, marijuana, etc.) with intent to distribute; possession
of firearms by a felon; conspiracy to commit robbery; attempted
robbery; stolen firearms; illicit cigarette
sales; conspiracy to commit forcible sodomy; solicitation of a prostitute; and
other crimes. Michael Rusinack of Woodbridge was arrested for solicitation to
commit murder.

In addition to the arrests, more than $560,000, 23 guns, two ballistic
vests, and a variety of stolen property including electronics, jewelry, credit
cards, and tools were recovered. A significant quantity and variety of
narcotics, both prescription and non-prescription, were also seized.

The people arrested as part of this operation were not working together in a
single criminal organization. It’s more of a matter of “one investigation
leading to another. They are not all connected,” says Fairfax County Police
spokesperson MPO Eddy Azcarate.

Those arrested today are in jail, he said. Some of the 100 people charged as
part of this investigation were arrested as far back as last November, and some
might have been adjudicated already. The operation was initially set to last
six months, but as additional targets were identified, it was extended.

Among the Fairfax County police units involved in the investigation are the Criminal
Intelligence Division, Organized Crime and Narcotics Division, neighborhood
patrol units, and detectives from the criminal investigations sections at the Franconia
and Mount Vernon District Police Stations.

It doesn’t appear that any of those arrested are from Annandale, although
several are listed as “address unknown.” Many are from Woodbridge, Alexandria, and
Manassas, and others are from other parts of Virginia and other states.

Some of the stuff sold at Dollar Depot in Alexandria. [Police photo]