Federal authorities arrest 18 people in Los Angeles park in drug crackdown | Los Angeles
Federal authorities arrested 18 people during a drug crackdown in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The Justice Department said it was targeting an “open-air drug market” at the park near the city center, which has long been plagued by fentanyl use and overdoses and has at times featured large encampments of homeless people.
A total of 25 people have been charged in federal court with distribution and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The Justice Department said seven of those defendants were not arrested and are considered fugitives.
Since March, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has been working with the Los Angeles police department and the Los Angeles sheriff’s department on an investigation into the trafficking of controlled substances around MacArthur Park “for the purpose of identifying distributors, gathering evidence, and charging distributors,” according to a complaint filed in federal court.
The complaint stated that authorities conducted surveillance operations and that undercover officers and confidential informants also purchased drugs. The complaint alleges that the two defendants, a couple, “served as one of, if not the primary, sources of fentanyl powder and methamphetamine supply” in the area and that they worked on behalf of the 18th Street gang, a Los Angeles group.
The couple “hand-delivered narcotics” to the “Alvarado corridor” next to the park “for storage in store windows and subsequent distribution to street-level dealers,” the complaint said. The complaint alleged that the couple used their home as a “stash place.” The charging documents did not contain specific documentation regarding his alleged gang membership.
Two other groups, the Crazy Riders Gang and MS-13, are also involved in drug supply near MacArthur Park, according to the charges. Gang members “are rarely responsible for the actual sale of user quantities of drugs” but distribute them to “runners” who sell them on the street, the complaint said.
The 67-page complaint by U.S. prosecutors outlines officers’ monitoring of defendants and their alleged drug purchases. The Ministry of Justice said that 27 separate fentanyl and methamphetamine drug sales were allegedly made in the region from March 9 to April 15. Law enforcement allegedly seized approximately 18 kg (40 lbs) of fentanyl from a defendant’s home.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the defendants had a lawyer. Those arrested Wednesday are expected to make their first court appearance on Thursday, the Justice Department said. The federal public defender’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry late Wednesday.
This isn’t the first time federal authorities have targeted MacArthur Park in the past year. In June 2025, heavily armed immigration agents and National Guard troops descended on the park in a historic immigrant neighborhood for a show of force. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass called this operation a “political stunt” that made it look like the city was “under siege.”
