{"id":845196,"date":"2026-06-05T03:10:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/845196\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T03:10:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T03:10:23","slug":"we-mean-business-lapd-and-feds-raid-macarthur-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/845196\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We mean business.&#8217; LAPD and feds raid MacArthur Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On Thursday afternoon, a swarm of federal agents and Los Angeles police officers descended on MacArthur Park with military vehicles and a loudspeaker warning that those using narcotics would be subject to search and detention. <\/p>\n<p>Within an hour, the park, where clusters of people can typically be seen hunched over smoking fentanyl or passed out on the grass, had been cleared, and 13 people had been arrested, according to L.A. Police Department Capt. Benedict Fernandes.<\/p>\n<p>Those arrests were largely for quality-of-life violations such as being under the influence of narcotics in public, drinking in public and having encampments in the park, he said. <\/p>\n<p>           <video playsinline=\"playsinline\" loop=\"\" preload=\"none\" title=\"LAPD, feds conduct drug-busting operation in MacArthur Park\" data-video-id=\"0000019e-9569-d256-a7de-d57f9dfd0000\">               <\/video>               <img class=\"image\" alt=\"\"   width=\"473\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780629019_749_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>             <\/p>\n<ul data-element=\"action-bar-menu\" class=\"flex gap-2 list-none  absolute w-full h-10 top-0\">\n<li data-element=\"action-bar-share\" class=\"flex  w-full h-10 top-0 lg:items-center lg:justify-center \">\n<p> Share via     Close extra sharing options  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Officials emphasized, however, that the joint operation is part of a broader and sustained effort to \u201cfree MacArthur Park\u201d from the drugs, crime and gang activity that have plagued the recreation site and surrounding working-class community for decades. <\/p>\n<p>Anthony Chrysanthis, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration\u2019s L.A. office, said Thursday\u2019s sweep was \u201cnot a photo op promising overnight change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re here today to let everyone know that the change is coming, and we\u2019re committed to doing this,\u201d he said at a news conference following the operation. \u201cYou will continue to see decisive enforcement around the park. We mean business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <img class=\"image\" alt=\"An armored vehicle sits outside MacArthur Park.\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780629021_223_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>         <\/p>\n<p>An armored vehicle sits outside MacArthur Park.<\/p>\n<p>(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<p>MacArthur Park was once considered a crown jewel of Los Angeles but has long been beset by gang violence, drug use and crime. Issues intensified during the pandemic, when it became an epicenter of Los Angeles\u2019 overdose epidemic and an open-air site for fentanyl sale and consumption. <\/p>\n<p>Public officials, including <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2023\/09\/18\/devastating-mayor-bass-other-leaders-react-to-macarthur-park-fentanyl-crisis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">L.A. Mayor Karen Bass<\/a>, have made promises to clean up the park in recent years, but critics say overdoses and fentanyl use have remained the norm. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe local fire department spends much more time trying to revive people [from overdosing] with Narcan that were on death\u2019s door than they do putting out fires in this area,\u201d said L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman. \u201cThat is a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The coalition of leaders from the U.S. attorney\u2019s office, DEA, LAPD and L.A. County district attorney\u2019s office present on Thursday claim that this effort is different.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere\u2019s my promise: Labor Day this year, 2026, I am going to come with my family, and I\u2019m going to have a picnic in MacArthur Park,\u201d said Hochman, \u201cbecause MacArthur Park is going to be safe enough to have that picnic.\u201d He told the public to \u201cget your picnic baskets ready\u201d and urged the mayor and City Council members to join him. <\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s operation comes one month after another sweeping raid was made in the park when federal agents and local authorities arrested 18 people, including two of whom are believed to be key local drug suppliers, according to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>            <img class=\"image\" alt=\"People stand around for a news conference.\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780629023_897_.jpeg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>         <\/p>\n<p>First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli, second from left, speaks at a news conference Thursday in downtown L.A. with Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, left, DEA agent Anthony Chrysanthis and LAPD Assistant Chief Emada Tingirides.<\/p>\n<p>(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<p>First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said Thursday\u2019s operation is part of a three-phase effort to reclaim MacArthur Park.<\/p>\n<p>The first phase was to dismantle the leadership of the 18th Street gang, which federal authorities allege controlled the neighborhood as an open-air drug marketplace. In March, 12 alleged associates of the gang were charged in a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dea.gov\/press-releases\/2026\/03\/06\/18th-street-gangsters-associates-arrested-indictments-alleging-murder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">widespread federal indictment<\/a> with murder, extortion and drug trafficking in the MacArthur Park area. <\/p>\n<p>The second phase was to go after the dealers and suppliers of narcotics in the neighborhood, which Essayli said was reflected in last month\u2019s arrests at the park. The third and ongoing phase is a consistent law enforcement presence to enforce state law, which prohibits people from being under the influence of narcotics and possessing drugs with the intent to use them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is critical,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to address the demand if we want to clean up the park.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Thursday afternoon, a swarm of federal agents and Los Angeles police officers descended on MacArthur Park with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":845197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[7910,13257,29414,1582,276,345659,6285,345662,345660,345661,2961,4530,224,2444,5337,345658,3546,345664,119479,345663],"class_list":["post-845196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-area","tag-authority","tag-bill-essayli","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-drug-busting-operation","tag-federal-agent","tag-fentanyl-hotspot-macarthur-park","tag-fentanyl-sale","tag-illegal-narcotic-activity","tag-la","tag-lapd","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-mararthur-park","tag-people","tag-possible-arrest","tag-thursday-afternoon","tag-x-macarthur-park"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116695310865895752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}