“When law enforcement agencies work together, compiling their expertise and technology, this is the type of operation that can be conducted to clean up our communities. Good, honest, hardworking citizens do not deserve to live in fear of violent crime and those who commit it.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
LOS ANGELES — On October 2, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the results of “Operation Safe Harbor” which was a joint multi-agency effort that targeted a violent criminal street organization in Los Angeles.
Members of the organized criminal group were allegedly operating a statewide narcotics and firearm trafficking network throughout California and responsible for a number of violent acts, according the to the AG’s office.
The effort by the California Department of Justice’s Special Operation Unit, the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and the Tulare and Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA), resulted in the:
- arrest of 27 suspects,
- seizure of 30 weapons including ghost guns,
- illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and PCP.
“Today we’ve taken dangerous drugs and weapons off our streets and protected the people of Los Angeles from the ongoing threats that this group caused. I thank our DOJ agents and law enforcement partners for the hours of work they have put into this case and for their work to make California safer,” said Bonta.
At the conclusion of the investigation which began on June 1, 2023, agents carried out a large- scale operation on September 28, 2023, serving seven search warrants, making 10 felony arrests recovering 14 firearms, including two ghost guns and one short-barreled rifle, seizing approximately $4,000, and intercepting various amounts of narcotics. In addition, two stolen vehicles were recovered. Additionally, the investigation uncovered additional arms of the criminal enterprise, resulting in additional arrests and investigations in communities throughout California, including in Tulare and Kern Counties.
As a result of the overall investigation, in total, 27 arrests were made, 30 firearms seized, and illegal narcotics seized including 72,115 fentanyl pills, 1.7 pounds of fentanyl powder, 143 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.7 pounds of heroin, 1.9 pounds of cocaine, 1.7 of pounds PCP, and $44,000.
The suspects have been referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for potential filing of felony charges including, transportation of controlled substance, possession of controlled substance for sale, conspiracy to commit crime and felon in possession of a firearm.
