Federal and local enforcement executed a sweep Wednesday targeting what authorities called an “open-air drug market” in MacArthur Park.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles said it would announce the results of the operation at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
Dozens of armed federal agents and LAPD officers raided several storefronts near the Alvarado corridor. As agents moved in and out of the location, LAPD officers cordoned off the northeast corner of the park with yellow crime scene tape.
“You on the rooftop, go back to your residence,” a voice on the loudspeaker said.
Minutes before the raid, LAPD squads slowly circled the park. Then around 2:08 p.m., a caravan of additional police and federal vehicles pulled up to the 6th and Alvarado and scores of officers spilled out.
They were joined soon after a large, command post-style vehicle, which was followed by several other armored tactical vehicles.
Officers began fanning through the park and pushing back people they encountered.
The operation drew the attention of several dozen onlookers, who were standing in line as part of a food giveaway by a local nonprofit called the Dream Center Foundation.
“You’re gonna round us all up in one spot that’s where you want us,” one man said as he brushed past the line.
At one point, a black-and-white LAPD helicopter flew overhead. Authorities made several announcements over a loudspeaker that it was a DEA operation.
“We have a federal narcotics warrant in the area,” one announcement said, instructing people to comply with law enforcement commands and walk down the street with their hands on their heads.
It’s the latest in a series of crackdowns on MacArthur Park. In March, federal authorities arrested a dozen members and associates of the 18th Street gang on indictments alleging murder, extortion and drug trafficking.
Authorities at the time said the gang controlled the park “as an open-air drug marketplace, using tents to blend in with the homeless population and avoid detection by law enforcement.”
“Gang criminals and drug peddlers have been exploiting the MacArthur Park community for far too long,” Anthony Chrysanthis, the head of the DEA’s office in Los Angeles, said in a statement at the time. “We want to return MacArthur Park back to the community.”
The post Feds sweep into MacArthur Park in operation against ‘open-air drug market’ appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
