Federal case targets alleged 18th Street gang role in MacArthur Park drug trade

Federal authorities on Thursday arrested 12 alleged members and associates of the 18th Street Gang, accusing them of controlling MacArthur Park as an open-air drug marketplace, where fentanyl and methamphetamine were sold from tents and protected through violence and extortion.

Prosecutors say the gang controlled drug trafficking around the park for years, even ordering the killing of a drug trafficker who refused to pay the gang’s “taxes,” according to a federal indictment.

The arrests come after years of escalating concerns about open-air drug use, theft and homelessness around the Westlake park — problems that drew renewed attention after a 2023 investigative series by the Los Angeles Daily News highlighted MacArthur Park as one of Los Angeles’ most visible hubs for fentanyl sales and addiction.

After the reporting, city leaders including Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district covers MacArthur Park, and Mayor Karen Bass expanded outreach programs, housing efforts and enforcement operations aimed at addressing the fentanyl crisis and improving conditions in the neighborhood.

Federal prosecutors say the indictment describes how members of the 18th Street Gang allegedly operated drug sales from tents set up in the park. Authorities say the tents blended in with homeless encampments, helping conceal trafficking and avoid detection by law enforcement while allowing the gang to control a network of dealers operating in the area.

“MacArthur Park served as an open-air marketplace for drug trafficking by 18th Streeters,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment.

Five of the defendants arrested Thursday were expected to make their initial appearances later in the day in federal court in downtown Los Angeles.

During the multiagency investigation, authorities seized more than 175 pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl. Agents also seized about $80,000 in cash, six firearms and additional quantities of narcotics during arrests carried out Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors said seven grand jury indictments were returned against alleged members and associates of 18th Street. The main indictment charges seven defendants with one count of racketeering conspiracy. Authorities said six suspects remain fugitives, including one believed to be in Mexico and another believed to be in Guatemala.

If convicted, several defendants could face life in federal prison.

Federal authorities say the case is part of a broader effort to dismantle criminal networks operating in neighborhoods across Los Angeles.

“For far too long, 18th Street and other criminals have been allowed to turn one of the city’s most beautiful public spaces into a crime-infested pit. That ends today,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.

The allegations highlight long-standing concerns about crime and drug activity around MacArthur Park, a historic gathering place in the densely populated Westlake community.

For generations the park has served as a cultural and recreational hub for the largely Latino working-class neighborhood, with a lake, playgrounds, sports fields and a band shell that hosts concerts and community events. But it has also periodically been a flash point for tensions in Los Angeles, including the May Day immigration rally in 2007 that ended in clashes between police and demonstrators and left dozens injured.

In recent years, however, the park has drawn renewed attention for a different reason: the rapid spread of fentanyl and the growth of open-air markets.

Over the past several years, residents, business owners and city officials have raised alarm about widespread fentanyl use and public drug sales in and around the park. Outreach workers and public health officials say the highly addictive synthetic opioid has devastated many people living on the streets nearby.

Investigations and reporting have described a cycle in which people struggling with addiction shoplift goods from stores across Los Angeles and sell them to vendors around the park to obtain money for drugs.

The underground trade has fueled theft complaints from nearby businesses while drawing large numbers of people experiencing homelessness and addiction to the area.

Researchers and community advocates say the park has become one of the most visible focal points of fentanyl use and street-level drug dealing in the city.

The crisis drew widespread attention in August 2023 after investigative reporting by SCNG’s former reporter Clara Harter and photographer Sarah Reingewirtz documented the scale of addiction and the open-air drug economy surrounding the park.​​After reading the investigation, Councilmember Hernandez said the findings “reinvigorated her fight” to bring more resources and services to the neighborhood.

Since then, city leaders have launched a number of initiatives aimed at stabilizing the area and addressing the intertwined challenges of homelessness, addiction and crime.

Some residents and community groups say conditions around MacArthur Park remain far from resolved, arguing that drug activity and safety concerns persist despite recent enforcement and outreach efforts.

On Thursday, Hernandez’s office said it has expanded a network of public safety and outreach programs around MacArthur Park in an effort to address violence, addiction and homelessness in the neighborhood.

“Since taking office, Councilmember Hernandez has expanded the ecosystem of public safety in and around MacArthur Park,” Hernandez’s office said in a statement.

The council office said those efforts include deploying community-based peace ambassadors to prevent gang violence, launching mobile overdose response and street medicine teams to connect people with services, expanding youth programming in the park, and investing discretionary funding in lighting, cleaning crews and other improvements.

Bass said Thursday that the arrests come as the city is intensifying efforts to improve conditions around MacArthur Park.

“Since taking office, it’s been my priority to address the health and safety concerns in MacArthur Park, which have been decades in the making,” Bass said. “While there has been significant progress throughout the MacArthur Park corridor, we are now at an inflection point.”

Bass said the city is taking what she described as a “comprehensive approach” to improve conditions around MacArthur Park, combining expanded services for residents with increased law enforcement efforts.

According to the mayor’s office, the city has deployed a mix of outreach teams, violence-prevention specialists and street medicine providers in the area as part of a broader effort to stabilize the MacArthur Park corridor. Officials say the approach combines social services with enforcement aimed at disrupting narcotics sales and other illegal activity.

City data cited by the mayor’s office show that more than 300 unhoused people were moved indoors in 2025 through Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority outreach programs and initiatives such as Inside Safe. Over the last six months of that year, teams connected 138 people to services, including 15 enrollments in drug treatment and detox programs and 51 referrals to interim housing, while administering Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, 26 times.

The mayor’s office also said police operations and other enforcement efforts have coincided with a nearly 25% drop in serious and violent crime in the area as of December 2025, while medical calls for service in the MacArthur Park corridor declined more than 20% between 2024 and 2025, according to city officials.

​​Authorities said Thursday’s federal arrests represent a significant step toward dismantling the criminal networks that have contributed to the crisis.

Investigators from several agencies — including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department — participated in the operation.

“We are committed to eliminating violent organized crime and open-air drug markets from Los Angeles,” Essayli said.