Federal Officials Report Gang Running Open Drug Market in Los Angeles Neighborhood
Arrests Target 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles Drug Operation
Los Angeles authorities arrested several members of the 18th Street gang on Thursday, alleging their involvement in the murder of a drug dealer and their operations within the MacArthur Park area. The gang, affiliated with the Mexican Mafia, is accused of using the park’s homeless population as cover for their illicit activities.
Federal prosecutors stated that the 18th Street gang maintained control over this area as an “open-air drug marketplace.” The suspects reportedly blended in with the park’s large homeless community by operating out of tents, facilitating drug transactions largely unrecognized by law enforcement.
Alongside their drug trade involving fentanyl and methamphetamine, the gang allegedly conducted illegal gambling operations and demanded extortion payments from vendors wishing to operate in the park or Skid Row, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. The federal indictment charges seven individuals with a count of racketeering conspiracy, and authorities are currently searching for six additional suspects tied to the case.
The indictment also claims that “MacArthur Park served as an open-air marketplace for drug trafficking by 18th Streeters,” highlighting the gang’s operation among the vulnerable populations in the area. Evidence from a multi-agency law enforcement operation led to the seizure of over 175 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
On the day of the arrests, authorities confiscated nearly $80,000 in cash, 10 pounds of fentanyl, five pounds of methamphetamine, and six firearms. Bill Essayli, First Assistant United States Attorney, emphasized the need for action, stating, “For far too long, 18th Street and other criminals have been allowed to turn one of the city’s most beautiful public spaces into a crime-infested pit. That ends today.”
As one of Los Angeles’s most significant street gangs, the 18th Street gang operates extensively, with more than 100,000 members across the United States and influences that extend into Mexico and Central and South America. Robert Molvar, acting assistant director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, voiced the agency’s commitment to tackling the gang’s activities, stating, “The distribution of illegal narcotics in our communities is unacceptable, as is the associated violent crime that many times affects innocent residents.”
