Feds seize $10M worth of fentanyl, arrest 18 in California drug raid

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - Two people suspected of being the main suppliers of the fentanyl and methamphetamine plaguing Southern California's MacArthur Park landed behind bars Wednesday as federal officials rounded up more than a dozen individuals linked to an open-air drug market there. 

Southern California drug raid

What we know:

Eighteen of the 25 people facing a federal drug trafficking charge as part of the investigation were rounded up in the sweep, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Seven others remain on the run and are considered fugitives. 

The top targets of the investigation, Mallaly Moreno-Lopez and her boyfriend, Jackson Tarfur, 28, were described as either the main sources of fentanyl and methamphetamine to the area or, at least, one of the main suppliers to the park, which has been under siege by drug and gang activities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office explained.

As part of its investigation, law enforcement reported finding approximately 40 pounds of fentanyl in one home alone. In all, more than $10 million worth of the highly dangerous drug was seized. The operation also included arrests in San Gabriel and Calabasas and multiple search warrants around Southern California, authorities said.

What they're saying:

"Today, we begin reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens of Los Angeles," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "Together with our federal and local law enforcement partners, we are executing multiple arrest and search warrants targeting those who are distributing drugs in and around the park."

Moreno-Lopez and Tarfur, who both live at a home in the Westmont area of South Los Angeles that also served as a stash house, would allegedly hand-deliver narcotics to the Alvarado Corridor. The drugs would be stashed in storefronts and make their way to street-level dealers, federal law enforcement said. 

Two other suspects named in the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement of the arrests were Yolanda Iriarte-Avila, 40, of Calabasas, who was described as a source of supply of methamphetamine for Moreno-Lopez, as well as Irarte-Avila, who law enforcement called a street-level dealer in MacArthur Park. 

Over a nearly six-week span beginning in March, investigators tracked 27 separate drug deals for fentanyl and methamphetamine in and around the park. 

MacArthur Park gang activity

MacArthur Park, which has been gripped by poverty and been a common place to buy drugs, is heavily contested gang territory, with the northern portion under the thumb of the 18th Street Gang and the area south of Wilshire Boulevard controlled by the Crazy Riders Gang, the U.S. Attorney’s Office explained. Mara Salvatrucha, a.k.a. "MS-13," dominates the area to the west of the park.

"For far too long, MacArthur Park has been plagued by drug addiction, crime, and despair," said Anthony Chrysanthis, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles Field Division. "Today’s operation is only one step, taken by a handful of agencies working hard to alleviate the anguish and sense of hopelessness burdening MacArthur Park, local businesses, and the surrounding neighborhood." 

The four people named in the government’s statement, Moreno-Lopez, Tarfur, Iriarte-Avila and Morales-Landel, would each face at least 20 years in prison if convicted, while the other accused individuals would have up to 10 years. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that the multi-agency investigation included hundreds of members of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division’s Southern California Drug Task Force (SCDTF), a DEA-led multi-agency task force within the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program, and the Los Angeles Police Department.

"Today’s operation shows the strength of our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration," said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. "We witnessed drug activity return to MacArthur Park, and our teams acted quickly to disrupt both the dealers and the suppliers behind them."