Operation Red Rider Nets 70 arrests, seizure of weapons and drugs from the streets of San Diego

San Diego political and law enforcement officials on Tuesday announced dozens of arrests and seizures of multiple weapons and illegal drugs as part of a 10-month “kill” for a major criminal network in the San Diego area.

According to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, the multi-agency effort, dubbed Operation Red Rider, was aimed at taking down “a well-organized crime syndicate.”

“And the elimination of this operation was carried out through a painstaking and lengthy investigation at the initial stage and the risky execution of search warrants and arrests in the backyard,” Gloria said. “In doing so, the San Diego Police Department (staff) and our law enforcement partners disrupted a criminal organization that was preying on San Diegan and making our communities less safe.”

The gang has ties to various white supremacist groups, SDPD chief David Neesleith said during a press conference at the SDPD headquarters in downtown.

The investigation resulted in the arrest of 70 felons, the return of 24 stolen vehicles and the seizure of seven weapons, city officials said. Also seized were 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 to make hash oil.

“These are the drugs that are killing our citizens of San Diego,” Gloria said. “These are weapons that are being used to harm our communities. And I’m happy to report that these criminals are now facing justice.”

Chief Neasleith said that with the rising number of murders in San Diego, guns are a priority.

“Murders were up 70% in January,” the boss said. “Most of them are related to firearms. For us, the priority is the seizure of firearms.”

Although the operation grew out of public reports of the illegal drug trade in northern Claremont, the operation soon expanded to include many other forms of organized crime throughout the city, Nisleith said.

“Detectives learned that many of the subjects (who) frequented the area were reporting (information) on a larger criminal network that included drug trafficking, illegal arms sales, fraud and car theft,” Nislate told reporters.

The crackdown culminated on Thursday with the issuance of six search warrants in various neighborhoods and 31 simultaneous cell searches of inmates in state and federal prisons, as well as local jails, Nisleith said.

If there is a dividing line between good and evil, Yvonne Sanchez would say it runs between her house on Noah Street and her neighbor’s house across the street.

“Everyone is trying to make this area beautiful,” Sanchez said. “We are sad that this is happening across the street.”

Sanchez said she lived in fear of what was happening in the house. Police say there were two drug overdoses, one of which ended in death.

“I want all the kids to come back and run around our streets, but that’s not possible with what’s in front of us,” Sanchez said.

Other search warrants were served on Tolova Street and Bamburgh Drive in Claremont, Mobley Street in Serra Mesa, the Circle North Hotel in Mission Valley, Tennyson Street in Point Loma, and West Calmia Street in Bunkers Hill. .

Noah Way is one step closer to revisiting what Sanchez remembers from her childhood growing up in the same house.

Content Source

California Press News – Latest News:
Los Angeles Local News || Bay Area Local News || California News || Lifestyle News || National news || Travel News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button