Over two dozen people have been charged in an operation targeting what federal prosecutors called an "open-air drug market" at a Los Angeles park.
Authorities are executing 25 arrest warrants and eight search warrants, including six for businesses around MacArthur Park, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, whose office is prosecuting the case.
So far, 18 of the defendants have been arrested for federal drug trafficking in connection with the operation, including two believed to be the main sources of fentanyl and methamphetamine in the troubled park, the Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office said Wednesday.
"Today, we begin reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens of Los Angeles," Essayli said in astatement.
The complaint charges all 25 defendants with the intent to distribute, and distribution of, a controlled substance in and around the park, located west of downtown Los Angeles, prosecutors said.
Those charged include the "street dealers and the suppliers who've been selling drugs openly here at MacArthur Park," Essayli said during a press briefing Wednesday.
The complaint affidavit alleges more than two dozen fentanyl and meth drug deals occurred in and around the park from March 9 to April 15.
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At the home of one defendant, law enforcement seized approximately 40 pounds of fentanyl, prosecutors said.
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The U.S. Attorney's office said the park and surrounding area are "heavily contested gang territory."
Two of the defendants charged in the complaint allegedly served as one of the main sources of fentanyl powder and meth distributed in the park on behalf of the 18th Street Gang, according to the complaint. The couple are also accused of storing and stashing the drugs at businesses near the park for distribution by street-level drug dealers, prosecutors said.
Law enforcement began arresting people Tuesday night, with search warrants at homes and businesses being executed on Wednesday, officials said.
The operation comes after leadership of the 18th Street Gang wasarrestedin March on federal charges alleging that the gang controlled MacArthur Park as an open-air drug marketplace, using tents to avoid detection by police and blend in with the homeless population.
"This is not a one-and-done operation," Essayli said during Wednesday's press briefing. "We have 300 law enforcement personnel on this operation, and they're not going anywhere. And we've got bigger guns than the gangsters, so we're not going anywhere."