Story perspectives

Operation Free MacArthur Park Seizes 40-lb Fentanyl, 18 Arrested

5/7/2026

Center

DEA Seizes Fentanyl

Law enforcement seized roughly 40 pounds of fentanyl, worth about $8 million to $10 million, from a single residence during the raid.
Federal agents arrested 18 people near Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park on May 6, 2026, while seven suspects remain fugitives.
The raid, dubbed “Operation Free MacArthur Park,” targeted alleged suppliers Mallaly Moreno-Lopez and Jackson Tarfur.
300 DEA and LAPD agents executed 25 arrest warrants and eight search warrants across Southern California.

Left

DEA Preemptive Raid

Agents framed the raid as a pre-emptive clean-up before FIFA, the Super Bowl and the Olympics.
Law enforcement arrested 18 people near Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park on May 6, 2026, while seven suspects remain fugitives.
Operation Free MacArthur Park used armored vehicles, a helicopter and a saw-cut metal storefront door.
Dream Center volunteers served food as nearby shop owners reported damage and no drugs found.

History

Historical Context

In the 1980s the DEA launched Operation Snowcap, a multi-agency campaign that by 1990 had seized 53 metric tons of cocaine and disrupted the Medellín cartel’s U.S. flow. The 1995 end of Snowcap, which curbed the cartel, and the 2026 MacArthur Park raid, involving DEA and LAPD officers, show the continued pattern of large-scale interdictions ahead of major public events.

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DEA Seizes Fentanyl

Law enforcement seized roughly 40 pounds of fentanyl, worth about $8 million to $10 million, from a single residence during the raid.
Federal agents arrested 18 people near Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park on May 6, 2026, while seven suspects remain fugitives.
The raid, dubbed “Operation Free MacArthur Park,” targeted alleged suppliers Mallaly Moreno-Lopez and Jackson Tarfur.
300 DEA and LAPD agents executed 25 arrest warrants and eight search warrants across Southern California.

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