LAPD and DEA arrest more than a dozen in MacArthur Park drug crackdown

In a joint operation, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency swept through MacArthur Park for another drug crackdown on Thursday. 

The LAPD said it arrested 13 people for drug-related crimes, including being under the influence of narcotics and lesser offenses. 

"We promised that we would not stop, and that is why we are here today," Assistant Chief Emada Tingirides said. "LAPD's Gang and Narcotics Rampart Division personnel, working with our federal partners, have remained engaged and on the ground in this community, making arrests, seizing dangerous narcotics and holding accountable those who profit from addiction and prey on vulnerable people in and around MacArthur Park."  

This is the second drug enforcement operation in the Westlake District area. Last month, federal agents flooded the same neighborhood for "Operation Free MacArthur Park."

During the operation, agents served 25 arrest warrants and eight search warrants, six of which were served at businesses near MacArthur Park. The DEA said it seized approximately 19 kilograms of fentanyl and arrested 18 people.

Anthony Chrysanthis, special agent in charge of the DEA's Los Angeles office, said federal agents and LAPD will routinely return to the area.

"I told everybody when I was here that day, it's not a one-day operation," he said. "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."