Federal and local law enforcement executed a major operation in Los Angeles, arresting dozens connected to open-air drug sales at MacArthur Park and seizing a large fentanyl supply, while authorities described the action as an effort to restore safety to a neighborhood long plagued by gangs, homelessness, and rampant drug dealing.
Eighteen defendants have been arrested in connection with a federal criminal complaint that targets trafficking in and around MacArthur Park, a neighborhood long battered by crime and addiction. The complaint itself names 25 defendants for possession with intent to distribute and distribution of controlled substances, reflecting a multi-faceted probe into supply and street-level distribution. Authorities say the arrests focus on key suppliers who sustained an open-air market for fentanyl and methamphetamine around the park.
At one Calabasas residence, law enforcement recovered approximately 18 kilograms, about 40 pounds, of fentanyl—an amount that underlines how dangerous and widespread the supply chains have become. The arrested individuals are scheduled to make initial appearances in federal court in downtown Los Angeles, while seven listed in the complaint remain fugitives. Prosecutors and investigators emphasized that disrupting suppliers is critical to stopping the flow of poison onto city streets.
“Today, we begin reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens of Los Angeles,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “Together with our federal and local law enforcement partners, we are executing multiple arrest and search warrants targeting those who are distributing drugs in and around the park.”
MacArthur Park sits just west of downtown Los Angeles and has become synonymous with poverty, homelessness, and visible drug use, creating a public-safety crisis for residents and small businesses. The park itself is a frequent site where narcotics are bought and consumed, with the immediate streets densely packed with apartments, shops, and offices that feel the impact every day. Local people and business owners have endured years of breakdown in basic order, and federal action aims to change that dynamic.
Anthony Chrysanthis, Special Agent in Charge for the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division, described the operation as part of a broader push to restore safety. “For far too long, MacArthur Park has been plagued by drug addiction, crime, and despair,” he said. “Today’s operation is only one step, taken by a handful of agencies working hard to alleviate the anguish and sense of hopelessness burdening MacArthur Park, local businesses, and the surrounding neighborhood. While this is a drug enforcement operation, it is also an effort to restore safety and wellness, and to return MacArthur Park back to the community.”
The park and its surroundings are also territory for rival gangs, complicating enforcement and raising stakes for community safety. The northern area near the park is associated with the 18th Street Gang, territory south of Wilshire Boulevard aligns with the Crazy Riders Gang, and MS-13 influence sits immediately to the west. That contested landscape has helped fuel the open-air economy of drugs and violence that federal and local agents say they are targeting.
“Today’s operation shows the strength of our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration,” said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. “We witnessed drug activity return to MacArthur Park, and our teams acted quickly to disrupt both the dealers and the suppliers behind them. Fentanyl remains one of the most dangerous threats to our community, and we are committed to keeping it off our streets. We will remain relentless, alongside our federal partners, in protecting the people of Los Angeles from dangerous drug activity.”
The affidavit alleges specific supply lines and stash houses tied to the drug flow into MacArthur Park. Authorities identify Mallaly Moreno-Lopez, 31, and Jackson Tarfur, 28, as primary suppliers of fentanyl powder and methamphetamine distributed in the Alvarado Corridor and MacArthur Park, allegedly operating on behalf of the 18th Street Gang. Investigators say Moreno-Lopez and Tarfur used a Westmont residence to stash drugs before hand-delivering them to locations near the park for distribution to street-level dealers.
Law enforcement also named Yolanda Iriarte-Avila, 40, of Calabasas, as a methamphetamine source for Moreno-Lopez through her boyfriend, Jesus Morales-Landel, 33, a known street-level dealer in the MacArthur Park area. The complaint links multiple stash locations and describes a pattern of deliveries and stash-and-deliver operations that supported 27 separate deals between March 9 and April 15 in and around the park. Those alleged transactions, investigators say, show a steady supply chain feeding the neighborhood’s open-air market.
The complaint stresses that an indictment or affidavit is an allegation, not proof, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, certain defendants named as primary suppliers face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison, while the remaining defendants face statutory maximums of up to 20 years. The case was investigated by the DEA Los Angeles Field Division’s Southern California Drug Task Force in partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, and it is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Transnational Organized Crime Section.
