Federal agents descended on MacArthur Park in Los Angeles on Wednesday, dismantling one of the city’s most entrenched open-air drug markets in a sweeping operation that netted at least 18 arrests and more than $10 million worth of fentanyl.
The sting, dubbed “Operation Free MacArthur Park,” was a joint effort between the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement. A federal criminal complaint filed the same day charged 25 defendants with narcotics distribution and possession offenses.
“Today, we begin reclaiming MacArthur Park from criminals and drug addicts to return this public space to the citizens of Los Angeles,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “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, located west of downtown Los Angeles, sits amid apartment buildings and office complexes but has long functioned as a hub for open-air fentanyl and methamphetamine sales. Authorities say both MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang have controlled territories within the park.
Among those arrested, a Calabasas resident was taken into custody after agents seized approximately 40 pounds of fentanyl at the person’s home, federal prosecutors said.
Authorities identified Mallaly Moreno-Lopez, 31, and her boyfriend Jackson Tarfur, 28, as central figures in the distribution network. The federal complaint alleges the pair “serve as the, if not one of the main sources of supply of fentanyl powder and methamphetamine distributed in the Alvarado Corridor and MacArthur Park, generally on behalf of the 18th Street Gang.”
Prosecutors allege Moreno-Lopez and Tarfur “hand-delivered” narcotics stored at their residence to street-level dealers operating along the Alvarado Corridor near the park, stashing drugs in nearby storefronts before distribution.
Yolanda Iriarte-Avila, 40, is alleged to have supplied methamphetamine to the couple, while Jesus Morales-Landel, 33, is accused of working as a street-level dealer in the MacArthur Park area.
Investigators gathered evidence of 27 separate drug transactions in and around the park over roughly six weeks beginning in March, according to federal prosecutors.
