Federal agents raid open air drug market at LA's MacArthur Park, haul away drug dealers
- WGON
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
Federal agents took control of MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Wednesday as part of an operation aimed at targeting the open-air drug market that has long operated in the area.
“We are going after street dealers and suppliers of massive amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine,” First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said in a statement.
Essayli said that within 24 hours, federal and local law enforcement officers arrested 25 defendants charged in a federal criminal complaint for possession and distribution of narcotics, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. The area’s alleged top drug trafficker was taken into custody.
“The park’s #1 drug trafficker, a Calabasas resident, is in federal custody and faces possible life imprisonment. The other defendants arrested today also face decades in federal prison,” Essayli said. “Along with a recent federal and local takedown of the 18th Street gang, which claims the park’s northern area as its so-called “territory,” today’s enforcement action shows that [the DOJ] and [the DEA] are determined to fight drug traffickers poisoning our citizens.”
The US attorney’s office emphasized earlier in the day that the operation was not an “immigration operation.”
MacArthur Park and the surrounding neighborhood have long been connected to homelessness, gang activity, and open-air drug use. The area has become widely known in Los Angeles for public narcotics sales.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Anthony Chrysanthis commented on the operation as search warrants were served to businesses allegedly selling narcotics in the Alvarado corridor.
“For far too long, MacArthur Park has been plagued by drug addiction, crime, and despair,” he said. “Today’s operation is only one step, taken by a handful of agencies working hard to alleviate the anguish and sense of hopelessness burdening MacArthur Park, local businesses, and the surrounding neighborhood. While this is a drug enforcement operation, it is also an effort to restore safety and wellness, and to return MacArthur Park back to the community.”