LOS ANGELES – Federal and local law enforcement carried out a large-scale drug raid across several locations in Southern California on Wednesday, arresting 18 individuals, including two suspects authorities believe are the primary suppliers of fentanyl and methamphetamine in MacArthur Park.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led the operation in coordination with the Los Angeles Police Department. The raid mainly targeted MacArthur Park, but officials also made arrests in Calabasas, San Gabriel, and South L.A., the DEA confirmed.
Over the past 24 hours, law enforcement officers executed nine search warrants — six in MacArthur Park and three in Calabasas, San Gabriel, and South L.A. Officials warned that this marks just the beginning.
Authorities arrested the 18 suspects under a federal criminal complaint that charges them with a federal drug trafficking offense, the Department of Justice announced. The complaint accuses 25 defendants of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance. Law enforcement continues to search for seven additional individuals.
According to the DEA, authorities are targeting drug dealers with ties to cartels. The agency said more than 200 of its personnel took part in the operation, along with approximately 100 officers from LAPD.
Essayli stated that the park’s “No. 1 drug trafficker,” a resident of Calabasas, is now in federal custody and could face life imprisonment. During the Calabasas arrest, law enforcement reportedly seized around 40 pounds of fentanyl.
“This is not a one-and-done operation. We are here, and we are not leaving. We have 300 law enforcement personnel on this operation, and they are not going anywhere, and we’ve got bigger guns than the gangsters,” Essayli said.
“It’s not street drug dealers doing this on their own. They’re supported by and answering to criminal street gangs in the area, prison gangs, and cartels. And they are doing this right here in our backyard. We’ve had enough of this,” LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said at a press conference. “And as you’ve seen today, and as you heard earlier, this is going to continue. And as long as we need to be here doing this, you are going to see this kind of activity here.”
The DOJ shared photos of the drugs collected by law enforcement during the operation.
Video from AIR7 shows authorities in tactical gear positioned outside a small business on Alvarado Street between Wilshire Boulevard and 6th Street, directly across from the park. One officer used a chainsaw to cut through an exterior wall.
Business owners told Eyewitness News they welcome the possibility of drug activity disappearing but worry about what may come next.
Several small business owners cleaning up the damage said they support removing drugs from the streets but feel they were caught in the crossfire.
“It hurts so much that they did this because I have nothing to do with what they’re looking for,” business owner Araceli Lopez said in Spanish.
Authorities served Lopez with a warrant at her small business.
“They broke the door, they forced it open, they broke my display cases and threw out all my merchandise,” Lopez told Eyewitness News. “I don’t know what they’re looking for, because they didn’t find drugs here. They didn’t find what they were after.”
For Lopez, the day ended with thousands of dollars in damage, and officers found no drugs or made any arrests inside her business. While she supports efforts to remove drugs from the streets, she said the open-air drug activity in the park has no connection to the legal shops along the street.
“I started crying, seeing what they did, because it’s unjust what they’ve done,” Lopez said. “I was just selling to earn my living, pay my rent and eat.”
The DOJ describes MacArthur Park, located west of downtown L.A., as an area marked by high levels of poverty and homelessness.
“Many of the homeless in that area are drug users, and the park itself is a known location for drug users to purchase narcotics, including fentanyl and methamphetamine. It is surrounded by a densely populated, tightly packed area of apartments, offices, shops and other businesses,” the department stated in a press release.
The release also details heavily contested gang territory surrounding the park.
“MacArthur Park’s northern area is considered territory of the 18th Street Gang, while the area of the park south of Wilshire Boulevard is considered territory of the Crazy Riders Gang, and territory considered belonging to Mara Salvatrucha, a.k.a. ‘MS-13,’ is immediately west of the park,” the DOJ wrote.
“This is a criminal organization operating in our country, and we are not going to stand for it anymore today. So they have been put on notice. MacArthur Park belongs to the people of Los Angeles again,” said Anthony Chrysanthis, the special agent in charge with the DEA.
Federal officials said they had monitored the area for about 45 days and plan to arrest a total of 25 individuals as part of the broader operation. The DOJ said seven defendants remain fugitives.
DEA officials added that another goal of the operation is “cleaning up the community” ahead of the World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
Everyone arrested during Wednesday’s operation is expected to make their initial court appearances that same day.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued the following statement:
“As we work to change MacArthur Park so that it’s safe and clean for families, we have zero tolerance for people who deal deadly drugs and prey on the community. We will continue to aggressively pursue our comprehensive strategy to restore MacArthur Park.”
Who Was Targeted in “Operation Free MacArthur Park?”
According to the criminal complaint, Mallaly Moreno-Lopez, 31, and her boyfriend, Jackson Tarfur, 28, both from the Westmont area of South Los Angeles, “serve as the, if not one of the main sources of supply of fentanyl powder and methamphetamine distributed in the Alvarado Corridor and MacArthur Park, generally on behalf of the 18th Street Gang.”
Law enforcement officials said Moreno-Lopez and Tarfur personally delivered narcotics to the Alvarado Corridor near MacArthur Park, where they were stored in storefronts and later distributed to street-level drug dealers. Authorities also accuse the pair of using their Westmont residence as a stash site for illegal drugs before transporting them to MacArthur Park.
The complaint also names Yolanda Iriarte-Avila, 40, of Calabasas, as a supplier of methamphetamine to Moreno-Lopez, through Iriarte-Avila’s boyfriend, Jesus Morales-Landel, 33, of the Exposition Park area of South Los Angeles, who authorities say operates as a street-level drug dealer in the MacArthur Park area. Investigators accuse Iriarte-Avila of using her home as a stash location for further drug distribution.
The complaint further alleges 27 separate drug transactions involving fentanyl and methamphetamine between March 9 and April 15 in and around the MacArthur Park area.
If convicted, Moreno-Lopez, Tarfur, Iriarte-Avila, and Morales-Landel could face sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison. The remaining defendants each face a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.
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