More than 60 arrests in Operation Wild West

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw shows off the bounty after the arrests of 64 people in what's being called Operation Wild West.

"This is going to make a difference in the violence that is happening in the Glades. It's not to say that it can't happen again, but these are the major participants of what's going on out there, " said Bradshaw.

He also said the undercover operation started back in October 2010, with detectives investigating street drug sellers.

Residents were complaining about the drug dealing, violence and drive by shootings.

"That's why the importance of these shootings are. When they are spraying 30 rounds of these bullets out there on the street, it's not just who they are shooting, but where the rest of the bullets are going to go. That's how that little kid got shot, because these thugs are shooting each other," said Bradshaw.

The undercover work resulted in the arrests and  the seizure of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and 12 high powered weapons, two of them were AK-47s.

The Sheriff says today's crackdown  will help keep residents and law enforcement safe. "When you are talking about cop killer bullets that will go through these vests right here and this is what we took away from a bad guy. These are what bad guys are wearing too," he said.

The investigation is far from over. The Sheriff said, "For the bad guys that may be listening, don't think we are not doing something out there about you too, because this is just the start."

Investigators will be checking to see if the weapons that were confiscated were used in any homicides.