Federal agents and LAPD arrest 23 in planned Skid Row drug raids targeting fentanyl dealers

Federal and local officers carried out a coordinated drug enforcement operation Thursday morning in downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row, centered on the area around Fifth and Crocker streets. The action, called Operation Save Skid Row, followed a multi-month investigation and resulted in the arrest of 23 of 28 people charged in federal complaints with distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and other drugs.

The operation was planned in advance. Officials described an investigation lasting more than three months, with some accounts citing roughly six months of intelligence work that included phone taps, undercover activity, and identification of specific targets before warrants were executed. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said authorities served 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants. LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell reported searches at 29 locations, including nine in the immediate Fifth and Crocker area, plus others in Pasadena, West Covina, Simi Valley, Paramount, Gardena, and Helendale. More than 300 officers participated, with roughly 100 vehicles involved in the Skid Row phase.

Federal participants included the FBI and DEA as the lead agencies, working with the LAPD as part of a Homeland Security Task Force effort. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and IRS Criminal Investigation were also involved, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Mayor Karen Bass and Chief McDonnell said the focus was dealers who prey on unhoused people rather than the broader homeless population.

Multi-agency operation after months of investigation searches tents and homes near Fifth and Crocker, seizing drugs, firearms and cash

Officers did enter and search tents and makeshift structures. Prosecutors and the DEA said some suspects operated from tents and cars while dressing as members of the homeless population or as social workers to blend in. Federal officials stated that investigators searched several tents linked to drug sales, and notices were placed on some structures stating they were subject to seizure under the Controlled Substances Act. A firearm was recovered from one tent. Most residential search warrants were served at houses outside Skid Row; authorities said many suspects drove luxury vehicles from other neighborhoods to sell drugs on benefit-check days and then left.

Seizures included fentanyl, methamphetamine, crack cocaine, PCP, heroin, firearms, cash, and vehicles. Essayli said the cases carry potential sentences of up to 20 years if defendants are convicted. Officials described the operation as the first phase of a larger effort and said additional warrants and arrests remain possible.