Thursday morning the feds rolled into LA’s Skid Row with a convoy of roughly 100 law enforcement vehicles. FBI, DEA, ATF, LAPD, all of them, serving 44 search warrants in an operation called Operation Save Skid Row.
By the end of it, 28 alleged drug dealers were indicted and more than 20 were in custody. Investigators say the network was moving fentanyl, meth, cocaine and PCP, with crack and heroin making a comeback in the area.
The wild part is how they were operating. Investigators say dealers posed as homeless men and even social workers, selling out of tents, storefronts and a Mercedes. One allegedly bought himself a Bentley. They timed their sales to government check days, when addicts had money in their pockets.
Agents seized guns, cash and luxury cars. The bust came after six months of phone taps, undercover buys and drone surveillance. LA’s top federal prosecutor called it the first salvo and said they are going after the dealers who prey on the homeless. Officials stressed this was not an immigration operation.
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