San Diego political and law enforcement officials Tuesday announced dozens of arrests and seizures of an array of guns and illicit drugs as part of a 10-month "takedown" of a large San Diego-area criminal network.
The multi-agency effort, dubbed "Operation Red Rider," sought to dismantle a "well-organized crime syndicate," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said.
"And this operation's takedown was done through painstaking and lengthy investigation at the front end, and high-risk execution of search warrants and arrests at the back end," Gloria said. "In doing so, San Diego Police Department (personnel) and our law enforcement partners disrupted a criminal organization that was preying on San Diegans and making our communities less safe."
The targeted crime gang has ties to various white supremacy groups, SDPD Chief David Nisleit said during the news conference at the downtown SDPD headquarters.
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The investigation resulted in 70 felony arrests, the recovery of 24 stolen vehicles and the confiscation of seven guns, the city officials said. It also netted seizures of 530 rounds of ammunition, seven pounds of methamphetamine, nine ounces of fentanyl powder, 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills, six ounces of heroin, four ounces of ketamine and laboratory equipment used for manufacturing hash oil.
"These are the drugs that are killing our San Diego citizens," Gloria said. "They are weapons that are being used to hurt our communities. And I'm pleased to say that now these criminals are being brought to justice."
With a growing number of homicides in San Diego, Chief Nisleit said the guns, are a priority.
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"Homicides in January are up 70%," the chief said. 'Most of those are firearm related. It is a high priority for us to remove firearms."
While the operation grew out of tips from the public about illicit narcotics activity in northern Clairemont, its focus soon expanded to include many other forms of organized crime across the city, Nisleit said.
"Detectives learned many of the subjects (who) frequented the area reported (information about) a larger criminal network that included drug trafficking, illegal gun sales, fraud and auto theft," Nisleit told reporters.
The crackdown culminated Thursday with the service of six search warrants in various neighborhoods and 31 simultaneous searches of inmate cells in state and federal prisons, as well as in local jails, Nisleit said.
If there is a dividing line between good and evil, Yvonne Sanchez would say it runs between her house on Noah Way and her neighbor’s across the street.
“Everybody tries to make this neighborhood nice," Sanchez said. "That’s what is sad to us, that that’s going on across the street.”
Sanchez said she has lived in fear of what was happening in the house. Police say there were two drug overdoses, one resulted in a death.
“I want all the kids to come back and run around in our streets, but it’s not possible with what’s across the street," Sanchez said.
Other search warrants were served on Tolowa Street and Bamburgh Drive in Clairemont, Mobley Street in Serra Mesa, Hotel Circle North in Mission Valley, Tennyson Street in Point Loma and West Kalmia Street in Banker’s Hill.
Noah Way is one step closer to getting back to what Sanchez remembers from her childhood growing up in the same house.
