00:23We've seen some of that with MacArthur-Clark, there were phases, there were different
00:57that were fishers.
00:58They were that way, they were the others.
00:59And they were the other ones that were very good at home.
00:59They were the other ones that were made in the village, and even some of that was important
02:06Folks who are taking advantage of them, trafficking deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine, PCP, and assortment of drugs, profiting off of other
02:14people's suffering.
02:14And so today those traffickers are going to be held accountable for their actions.
02:20And, you know, there's been a sense of apathy for far too long.
02:22And this operation, I just want a message, has been really motivating for me and my position with my team
02:28to see the leadership from LAPD, FBI, all together here today,
02:32joined together to say that apathy has not set in with us in law enforcement.
04:46The drug money is used to purchase, such as cars or homes.
04:50We're going to be seizing those assets, the IRS is free, and tracing those.
04:54We're also a worker's money.
04:57I'll just have a little bit to drop through the higher-up assets.
04:59I'll copy.
05:37It's a big fire arm right there
05:42There you go
06:31There you go.
06:39There you go.
07:22There you go.
07:55There you go.
08:05There you go.
08:18There you go.
10:51We're here for a door bus, though.
10:52This is like five blocks away.
11:00Come out with your hands up and clear.
11:10Leslie, come out with your hands up and clear.
11:14This is the FBI.
11:20Come out with your hands up and clear.
11:28Georgia, this is the FBI.
11:30Come out with your hands up and clear.
11:32Come out with your hands up and clear.
11:42Come out with your hands up and clear.
12:15We know you're inside.
12:24Leslie, come out with your hands up and clear.
12:34Leslie, hands up.
12:47I'm out.
13:06You're in the way.
13:09There's a reason.
13:11You're in the way.
13:12You're in the way.
13:13We're in the way.
13:13We're in the way.
13:38All residents of 1019 North Summit Avenue,
13:43this is the FBI, come out with your hands up and clear.
14:17The FBI is a member of the U-S-S-R-S-R-S-R-S-R-S-R-S
14:18-R-S-R.
15:51Hey, what's your name?
15:53Anthony.
15:54Anthony what?
15:55Huh?
15:55Anthony what?
15:56Is my grandma your name?
15:57Miss Georgia?
15:59Yeah.
15:59Yeah, she's around on the other side.
16:00Yeah.
16:01Alright.
16:02Yeah.
16:04What was your last name?
16:05Happy?
16:06Counts.
16:07Counts?
16:07Yeah.
16:13Yeah.
16:14Yeah.
16:23Yeah.
16:26Yeah.
16:28Yeah.
16:30Yeah.
16:33It's been pretty.
16:56please
16:57long investigation and so we developed enough evidence in that period of time
17:03and we know exactly who the dealers are where they're dealing how they're
17:06dealing where the drugs are coming from so we wrote for search forms some of
17:11which are being executed right now in skip row a lot of the tents you see here
17:15are not people living in these tents these tents are being used to sell drugs
17:18so we're going to be searching those tents they won't be taking
17:22dentinol we know deadly you have about half a dozen people who die every night
17:26on the streets of los angeles the pcp is really concerning we haven't seen this
17:31in a while you put the people violent and so that's a very security target
17:37an agent this morning said these are not dime dealers so who is it you're
17:41targeting here we're going to set our press conference today
17:43this are going to be arrested for all of their activities
17:46right now we want to focus on these more inspecting them we want to get as many
17:50drugs off the street is this two different operations going at the same time or is
17:55just one thing this is a joint operation
18:10great look at this
18:33so
18:35what's that
18:38What's up?
18:40What's up?
18:40Where are you going?
19:21Maybe you could talk about the challenges or some of the features of...
19:40What's up?
19:42I was like, where are you going?
20:23Maybe you could talk about the challenges or some of the features of...
20:50The goal of this is to clean up Skid Row.
20:53Can you contextualize this?
20:55Is this the largest operation that you're aware of in Skid Row?
20:58It seems like a gigantic effort to me.
21:04So, we are executing today 28 arrest warrants and over 44 search warrants of known drug users.
21:13So, it's a massive effort.
21:15We're gonna...
21:16This is the first...
21:17Oh, I'm with him.
21:22...organization here on Skid Row.
21:25So, this is the opening.
21:30Salvo.
21:31Salvo.
21:32Yeah, and...
21:34What happens if we get the dealers off the Skid Row?
21:38Like, what's this going to do for them?
21:41We're hoping then the homeless can get some help,
21:43because right now what they're doing is they're keeping them addicted.
21:45Oh, it's really, really bad.
21:47Oh, yeah!
21:49So, they're keeping them addicted.
21:51And they're taking their money.
21:52And so, they want to get the homeless help.
21:55They don't want to get the drugs.
21:57So...
21:58They're mostly gang-affiliated, and they distribute all kinds of drugs to the homeless.
22:02They're selling a meth, fentanyl, PCP, you name it.
22:06And so, today's our first operation in which we're beginning to dismantle this.
22:11We are no longer going to have open-air drug markets in the United States, let alone in Skid Row.
22:16And that's the reason you see so many homeless people who are experiencing psychotic episodes,
22:22who are unwell, they're not seeking help.
22:24It's because you've got people like these drug dealers who are arresting today,
22:27keeping them addicted, and taking their public assistance money to pay for the drugs.
22:31Bill, can you explain, like, how this operation worked?
22:33I know we're here right now, but it's certainly...
22:35We're working together with the city to make LA safer for everybody, including the homeless on Skid Row.
22:40All right.
22:41In terms of the goals of this operation, can you contextualize it for me?
22:50Like, what's the big-picture goal?
22:53Are we looking to...
22:54I love it.
22:54Like, is it...
22:54This is...
22:55I've been told...
22:56Bill Visaley told me that this was...
22:58To sort of think of this as, like, an opening shot in, like, what will be a continuous effort to
23:05clean this place up.
23:06Sure.
23:06That is a fair assessment.
23:08Look, we're not going anywhere.
23:09We're here today, as the first assistant said, as an opening shot,
23:12targeting those who are peddling narcotics in and around the Skid Row area, but we're not leading.
23:17We will be out here consistently.
23:19And those who are preying on the vulnerable population here in and around Skid Row
23:23and targeting them for drug sales and transactions should know that we will be here.
23:27We will come back, and we will get you.
23:29And anybody with information related to those transactions,
23:32we urge you to contact us at 1-800-QUALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.
23:37We can...
23:38We're looking to work with you.
23:40And the raw material, right?
23:41It's close confines, and so there's all kinds of challenges that come with that
23:44when they're doing these investigations.
23:46Our team has worked very closely with our partners on the Homeland Security Task Force,
23:51which includes FBI, DPA, IRS, LAPD, and other federal, state, and local officers
23:57to target the traffickers of the drugs down here.
23:59So there's a variety of different means by which we do that, which I'm not going to get into here.
24:04We're going to preserve those means so that we can come back out here
24:07in the event that they attempt to come back and continue their operations.
24:10All right.
24:11Well, powerful, mind-altering substances, they're not going to make rational decisions,
24:15and they're going to keep feeding the drug dealers the cash that should be used to help themselves.
24:21Thank you so much.
24:24Our folks, our men and women across all of our agencies are out there right now in the process of
24:28this.
24:28So we're going to give you the final tallies later today.
24:31But what I'll say, the focus for the past four months have been on those most responsible
24:35for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, the assortment of drugs into this community.
24:40It's very clear to know that the people that are being arrested today
24:43are not the folks who suffer simply from homelessness or mental illness or addiction.
24:48We're focusing on the people who are taking advantage of that most vulnerable community here in Los Angeles.
24:54And so it was interesting as we were going out today and doing the search warrant,
24:58some of these folks that we were pursuing were out just last night, you know, at midnight,
25:02selling on the streets right here.
25:03They actually woke up. It's a business.
25:05They're back out here on the streets 4 a.m. this morning selling again.
25:08And so that's the focus for us.
25:11Because when you look at this community, they were hiding right here in plain sight.
25:14I assume if anybody passed by these streets and looked at kind of the assortments of structures, tents, tarps,
25:20you're not going to be able to tell the difference between someone who is living here, unfortunately,
25:24suffering from so many challenges in life and those who are profiting off of it.
25:27So today we're taking those into custody who are taking advantage of that community.
