Massive Anti-Gang Sweep Nets More Than 100 Arrests March 15, 2000, LA Times
In the largest mass arrest in Orange County history, a small army of police and FBI agents arrested more than 100 alleged drug and weapons dealers today, capping a 7-month investigation in which police infiltrated some of the region's most notorious street gangs.
The top-secret operation centered around a veteran gang member-turned-informant, who gained the trust of local dealers and made hundreds of purchases of narcotics, stolen cars and high-powered firearms.
SWAT officers take a man into custody.
Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times
As the police mole worked, law enforcement officers sat in a nearby vehicle capturing deals on the latest in cutting-edge surveillance equipment, much of it donated by private technology companies.
A secretly impaneled Orange County Grand Jury--only the third of its kind--watched footage of the illegal purchases and heard testimony from gang officers for seven weeks, handing down 125 indictments two weeks ago.
Armed with the panel's sealed indictments, more than 400 officers from federal, state and local agencies helped in Wednesday's dawn raid. With snipers perched atop nearby roof, officers smashed windows and hauled bleary-eyed members of the Santa Nita and rival gangs from their homes, some of them clad only in underwear.
By noon, 106 suspects from 12 county gangs had been rounded up. The gang bust--the largest in Orange County history--marked what local officials called the end of the "reign of terror" waged by brazen gang members in the 1-square-mile area west of the Santa Ana River.
Residents of the area had grown accustomed to watching daylight drug and weapons and stolen property deals in front of their homes.
"They're animals. They're a bunch of animals. They're not human," said one longtime resident, who declined to give his name fearing retaliation. "When they leave jail, they'll just come back here. It never ends."
In one case during the operation, police surveilled a 14-year-old trying to trade a Magnum pistol for a more wieldable weapons.
In another, the police informant bought 12 vehicles valued at $140,000 from a stolen car ring that officials said was busted during the probe. But Wednesday's sweep, they said, would help transform the neighborhood over the next few years with the help of city-sponsored rebuilding efforts.
"The people in the neighborhood were in fear. If you pretty much own the neighborhood, you can do what you want," said Santa Ana police Sgt. Raul Luna. "This is just the first phase of pulling the weed from the garden and planting seeds in the neighborhood so that residents can reclaim the streets."