LA sting operation sees 27 suspected gang members arrested and 150 pounds of drugs seized

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Twenty-seven suspected gang members were arrested and almost 150 pounds of drugs were seized in an operation targeting a “violent street organization” in Los Angeles.

Officials say that Operation Safe Harbor saw the seizure of 30 weapons, more than 72,000 fentanyl pills, 1.7 pounds of fentanyl powder, 143 pounds of methamphetamine and 4.7 pounds of heroin.

The suspects were allegedly part of a statewide network that trafficked guns and drugs, according to the Office of the California Attorney General.

The operation was conducted across multiple counties and saw the arrests of other suspected gang affiliates in California’s Central Valley area.

“Operation Safe Harbor sends a strong message to organized criminal enterprises across California that you cannot stand up to the power of good law enforcement work,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“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.”

Mr Bonta has refused to name the “violent criminal street organization” the alleged gang members are believed to belong to so as not to give them additional notoriety.

But Donald Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office described them as “Mexican Mafia and cartel-affiliated street gangs.”

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has been handed the cases and will decide on prosecutions.