The SCPD, together with the DEA and ICE, shut down a major drug ring in Operation Southern Exposure. According to police, more than 40 people were arrested, including nine who were in the country illegally. Police also confiscated several pounds of drugs (cocaine, meth, heroin, ecstasy, and crack), 10 firearms and $25,000.
The SCPD, together with the DEA and ICE, shut down a major drug ring in Operation Southern Exposure. According to police, more than 40 people were arrested, including nine who were in the country illegally. Police also confiscated several pounds of drugs (cocaine, meth, heroin, ecstasy, and crack), 10 firearms and $25,000.
“The city of Santa Cruz is safer today than it was when this operation started,” said Interim Police Chief Kevin Vogel, rebuffing critics of the SCPD’s collaboration with ICE. Police say that it is impossible for them to get rid of gang members from another country without the support of ICE.
The operation focused on southern-structured gangs such as MS-13 and the Sureños, targeting members in the upper echelons of the gang hierarchy. Eight out of the nine people here illegally are members of the two gangs. Though the arrests took place across the county, the vast majority—30—were in Watsonville.
The bust is being heralded as a major success by authorities. Joe Vincent of Homeland Security said that, “By pooling our resources, our intelligence, our expertise, we’ve taken some very dangerous people, weapons and drugs off the streets of this community.”
Participating officers shared in the enthusiasm, with Detective Bill Azua of the SCPD chiming in, “We’ve got them on the run. They’re scared.” Police declined to comment on how long the operation is scheduled to continue. Read more at Fox 35, KSBW, ABC7, the Register-Pajaronian and the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
