Local and federal law enforcement swept through MacArthur Park, making multiple arrests at the iconic park two miles from downtown Los Angeles as part of a continuing crackdown on drug dealing and other criminal activity in the area, law enforcement officials said Friday.
Los Angeles Police Department officers and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents moved through the Westlake District park mid-afternoon Thursday.
An LAPD official said a total of 13 people were arrested for various offenses, including being under the influence of narcotics, and another six people were cited for less offenses.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told reporters the sweep was a continuation of “Operation Free MacArthur Park” that began in early May with a major raid in the park and at several neighboring storefronts. That operation cracked down on what authorities described as an “open-air drug market” operating in the area.
Essayli said that raid has led to a decrease in criminal activity in the area, but problems persist.
“We have seen a huge reduction in the activity, particularly around Alvarado Street here,” Essayli said. “A huge reduction in activity there. But we’ve got to deal with the demand. The demand of drugs here is what draws the delears, draws the influence. So that’s what we’re dealing with today.”
Essayli said he had spoken to Mayor Karen Bass about the crackdown and said she was in support of Thursday’s law enforcement action.
He said he hopes that when “we get the criminal elements out of the park, the city can come in and rehabilitate it. It needs work.”
Anthony Chrysanthis, special agent in charge for the DEA’s Los Angeles Bureau, said MacArthur Park was not the sole focus of attention for the agency.
“I will 100% say this is not the only area we are operating in,” he said. “We are active in other areas of Los Angeles. We will be paying other places a visit. We are coming. Now’s your chance. Clean your act up or face the consequences of LAPD, DEA with the power of the United States Attorney, the District Attorney. Everybody’s coming together to get this job done.”
Chrysanthis also said Thursday’s sweep was a continuation of the raid in early May.
“I told everybody when I was here that day, it’s not a one-day operation. We will be back. It will be going on. And there’s been many other days we’ve been here in this park, and around this area conducting law enforcement operations. We just don’t advertise it to everybody.”
During the Free MacArthur Park operation last month, Essayli said a total of 25 arrest warrants were served, along with nine search warrants — six of which targeted businesses across from the park. He said operators of the large-scale drug operations were “storing and stashing” drugs at storefronts near the park.
He said 18 defendants were arrested the day of the raid, including a man and woman in South Los Angeles who were believed to be the main suppliers of fentanyl and methamphetamine in MacArthur Park. Seven defendants are considered fugitives.
At one defendant’s Calabasas residence, law enforcement seized nearly 40 pounds of fentanyl, officials said.