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Federal agents arrested several people and searched multiple businesses around MacArthur Park on Wednesday as part of an investigation into drug trafficking. Agents also searched six businesses in the Westlake neighborhood and said that at least 18 people were arrested as part of the investigation, which was called “Operation Free MacArthur Park.
”The suspects are allegedly tied to distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine out of the park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Agents also raided a home in Calabasas and found 40 pounds of fentanyl believed to be part of the network of drugs distributed to MacArthur Park, according to authorities. Federal agents swarmed MacArthur Park on Wednesday afternoon in a joint operation targeted at suspected drug dealers.
Agents also searched six businesses in the Westlake neighborhood and said that at least 18 people were arrested as part of the investigation, which was called “Operation Free MacArthur Park. ” The suspects are allegedly tied to distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine out of the park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Agents also raided a home in Calabasas and found 40 pounds of fentanyl believed to be part of the network of drugs distributed to MacArthur Park, according to authorities.
Agents in tactical gear and armored vehicles rolled through the neighborhood shortly after 2 p.m., according to images shared over social media, and an agent used a large saw to cut through a metal security door at a business storefront on Alvarado Street, NBC News reported. The investigation included six businesses in Westlake and a federal indictment names 25 people, with several who have not been found.
Authorities arrested 18 people in connection to suspected drug trafficking in and around MacArthur Park. The suspects were identified in a news conference Wednesday by federal authorities. The raids began Tuesday evening and are expected to continue, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced during a press conference outside the park. He was flanked by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Armored vehicles lined Alvarado Street and more agents in tactical gear stood under the shade of a nearby tree. The Los Angeles Police Department announced it provided assistance to its federal partners and clarified the investigation was not related to immigration enforcement. Anthony Chrysanthis, special agent in charge for the DEA’s field office in Los Angeles, reiterated that the federal agency will return to Westlake.
“We will be watching this place every day, all the time. We’ve been gathering evidence for 60 days,” Chrysanthis said.
“Privately, we get phone calls every day. ‘What are you doing about this? ’ So, if you live in an area where you see drug activity, you can plan a friendly visit from law enforcement. ” Chrysanthis said the operation at the park was chosen because “this place is symbolic to Los Angeles.
” “The communities have to go back to the people. We have to make our city safe again for all people in Los Angeles. So today the message starts,” he said. Troy Feller, volunteer with the faith-based organization Dream Center, was handing out lunch to people in the park when agents arrived.
Feller saw police and agents wearing tactical gear pull up to the park.
“They started wrapping up the area really quickly. We’re out here every week and we have never seen something like this,” Feller said. The Bureau of Street Services estimates it can only resurface 60 lane miles this fiscal year, compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.
Los Angeles city streets will worsen and repairing them will become more expensive unless the city overhauls its approach to maintenance, according to a report from transportation advocacy group Streets For All. The critical condition that L.A. ’s streets could find themselves in is the result of underinvestment, opting for smaller-scale treatments and delaying compliance with long-standing federal accessibility laws, according to the report.
One of the potential solutions the report names is changing the city’s charter to mandate a five-year infrastructure plan, and that’s the solution local leaders have recently angled toward too. Los Angeles city streets will worsen and repairing them will become more expensive unless the city overhauls its approach to maintenance,“We’re looking towards a dire future for the streets of Los Angeles if we continue on the status quo,” said Josh Vredevoogd, who heads creative and research for the organization that spearheaded Measure HLA and co-authored the report published in late April.
The critical condition that L.A. ’s streets could find themselves in is the result of underinvestment, opting for smaller-scale treatments and delaying compliance with long-standing federal accessibility laws, according to the report. One of the potential solutions the report names is changing the city’s charter to mandate a five-year infrastructure plan, and that’s the option local leaders have recently angled toward too.resurfacing, which treats a street from curb to curb.
While some resurfacing has since resumed, the Bureau of Street Servicesits current budget will only allow 60 lane miles of resurfacing this fiscal year compared to more than 300 lane miles the prior year.is the high price of installing curb ramps. According to federal guidelines, curb ramps must be installed in compliance with ADA standards before a road is resurfaced. They come with a high price tag at $50,000 per curb ramp, according to Streets For All.
The city has instead prioritized “large asphalt repairs” this year. That’s a method of patching when there are structural failures like potholes or extensive cracking,"but the entire street doesn't yet need full resurfacing,” said Dan Halden, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Street Services. By opting for large asphalt repairs, “City lawyers believe ADA repair requirements are not triggered,” Streets For All’s report says.
The group's report says that large asphalt repairs end up costing more per square foot than resurfacing, lead to more expensive repairs later and don’t result in any meaningful improvement to street condition. The report estimates that by not keeping up with curb ramp standards, L.A. will need to spend $4 billion to address its estimated 80,000 ramp backlog.
For years, advocates, namely Jessica Meaney of Investing in Place, have called on the city to create a long-term infrastructure development and maintenance plan, something major cities throughout the U.S. already have. Vredevoogd said such a plan, known officially as a Capital Infrastructure Program, could include a streamlined method of street maintenance.
“They repave the street. They fix all the curb ramps. They put in new trees. They add Vision Zero improvements,” he said.
“That’s what you see happening with more functional Public Works programs in other cities. ” Earlier this week, Mayor Karen Bass released a Capital Infrastructure Program focused on projects for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games. Bass’ plan is a one-off, though, and long-term infrastructure planning and budgeting isn’t part of the regular course of city business.of a five-year-long Capital Infrastructure Program in the city charter.
If it succeeds, that recommendation would make a plan similar to what Bass released as part of the regular process of planning and budgeting. The commission also recommended creating a director of Public Works position that would oversee and implement infrastructure planning.
Her spokesperson, Chelsea Lucktenberg, said the councilmember sees charter reform “as a key part of the solution” to address the problems identified in Streets For All’s report, including how “our system is set up to prioritize short-term fixes over long-term maintenance. ”Bass’ office said the mayor’s proposed budget for next fiscal year increases funding for the city’s pavement preservation program by 21% and includes a 45% increase specifically for access ramps.at the end of March asking city departments for an analysis of curb ramp construction, including a comparison with comparable jurisdictions.
Halden, the Bureau of Street Services spokesperson, said the city is “on track” to install 300 curb ramps by this summer, when the current fiscal year ends. Motorcyclists wait at a stop light outside the Shell gas station on 598 Bryant Street in San Francisco on April 24, 2026.are likely to see another price hike in the coming weeks as the war in Iran strains the global market, lawmakers said on Tuesday at a hearing about the uncertain future of the state’s fuel supply.to pass through the Strait of Hormuz arrived at the Port of Long Beach this week — the last shipment from the Middle East expected to reach California for the foreseeable future.
Californians have been feeling the pain at the pump since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spiked crude oil prices around the world. Today, drivers pay about $6.13 per gallon compared to the national average of $4.48, according toare likely to see another price hike in the coming weeks as the war in Iran strains the global market, lawmakers said on Tuesday at a hearing about the uncertain future of the state’s fuel supply.to pass through the Strait of Hormuz arrived at the Port of Long Beach this week — the last shipment from the Middle East expected to reach California for the foreseeable future.
“When this tanker is empty, it’s unclear where the next replacement ship will be coming from,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, and Utilities and Energy Committee chair at Tuesday’s hearing. Californians have been feeling the pain at the pump since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran spiked crude oil prices around the world.
Today, drivers pay about $6.13 per gallon compared to the national average of $4.48, according to While officials do not foresee California running out of oil, consumers should brace for additional price increases. High gas prices are listed at a Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran.
“Based on what we’re hearing from the industry and what we have heard, the pricing will move molecules towards California, but it will come at a price,” Siva Gunda, vice chair of the California Energy Commission, said. Gunda said the costs will come from a bidding war to divert oil from Asian markets to the West Coast.
Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, a California Energy Commission spokesperson said in a statement that the price spike is due to “the rapid escalation of crude oil prices because of the Iran War. These elevated prices are not unique to California, and prices are continuing to rise globally. ” However, Jamie Court, the head of Consumer Watchdog, a consumer protection group, said that California legislators, along with the state’s oil refiners, should take more responsibility for high prices.
In a, Consumer Watchdog said oil refiners have been taking advantage of the current war to make record oil-refining profits, and Court said California Gov. Gavin Newsom “chickened out” of price gouging regulation.
“Trump can be responsible for about 70 cents of this because of the crude oil increase, but the rest of the two extra dollars we’re paying at the pump … are on Newsom,” Court said. Severin Borenstein, professor and faculty director of The Energy Institute, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, said in the public hearing that the recent spike is just one part of a larger trend.
$0.72 per gallon in taxes and $0.50 per gallon in environmental programs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration — a refinery fire in Southern California in 2015 led to aThe Commission’s Division of Petroleum Market Oversight said in the hearing that it’s also taken steps to deal with “branded” retailers like Chevron that have been overcharging California consumers at the pump. If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report.
Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. Following a year-long inquiry into the admissions policies and practices at UCLA’s medical school, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice alleges that school leadership “intentionally selected applicants based on their race,” to the detriment of white and Asian applicants. In a statement, an unnamed UCLA spokesperson responded that the medical school is complying with all federal and state laws.
“The admissions process at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant. We are confident in our practices and our mission to maintain access to a high-quality education to all qualified students,” the statement said.
In a press release, the department noted that “Medical schools use substantial federal financial assistance to train the next generation of doctors,” and that this fuels its “focus on eradicating illegal race politics from admissions at medical schools. ”The Department of Justice has repeatedly gone after the University of California in Trump’s second term.
Earlier this year, the departmentover allegations that UCLA officials allowed antisemitism on campus, and unsuccessfully demanded a range of concessions to bring UCLA more in line with its ideology, in addition to more than $1 billion in fines. The administration also tried toThe DOJ says it wants to find an agreement with the university “to ensure that admissions practices are brought into legal compliance.
”Full Story Following a year-long inquiry into the admissions policies and practices at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice alleges that school leadership “intentionally selected applicants based on their race,” to the detriment of white and Asian applicants.
“UCLA’s admissions process has been focused on racial demographics at the expense of merit and excellence — allowing racial politics to distract the school from the vital work of training great doctors,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant attorney general for the DOJ. In a statement, an unnamed UCLA spokesperson responded that the medical school is complying with all federal and state laws.
“The admissions process at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant. We are confident in our practices and our mission to maintain access to a high-quality education to all qualified students,” the statement said. AAMC PREview Exam scores What does the DOJ say about academic scores?
The report looks at median GPA and found that based on materials provided to the DOJ, the scores for some applicant groups were lower than others for the 2023 and 2024 admitted classes. Here’s 2023:The DOJ investigation also takes issue with “a theory that increasing ‘diversity’ of the healthcare workforce will improve healthcare outcomes for Black and Hispanic patients” that it says was promoted by the program’s director showing an “intent to racially discriminate under the guise of saving lives and conceal her true motive to treat certain applicants unfavorably based on their race.
” The investigation also looks at the PREview Exam, which it says asks open-ended questions about whether applicants are from marginalized backgrounds.
“By design, this question asks Black and Hispanic applicants to reveal their race so that DGSOM can know and consider it. ” A number of studies suggest that when patients have doctors of the same race it leads to better medical results. Aout of UCLA found Hispanic Medicare patients had a lower readmission rate and length of stay when treated by Hispanic doctors.
In a press release, the department noted that “medical schools use substantial federal financial assistance to train the next generation of doctors,” and that this fuels its “focus on eradicating illegal race politics from admissions at medical schools. ” Still, the administration has also curtailed that funding.
Last year, the Republican-backed “big, beautiful bill” that President Donald Trump signed into law—a move that could push students to borrow from private lenders, which provide far fewer protections for loan repayment and don’t offer loan forgiveness. The Department of Justice has repeatedly gone after the University of California in Trump’s second term.
Earlier this year, the departmentover allegations that UCLA officials allowed antisemitism on campus, and unsuccessfully demanded a range of concessions to bring UCLA more in line with its ideology, in addition to more than $1 billion in fines. The administration also tried toThe DOJ says it wants to find an agreement with the university “to ensure that admissions practices are brought into legal compliance.
”Destiny TorresThe Santa Ana City Council unanimously approved an ordinance last night requiring retail stores to staff self-checkout lanes in efforts to improve public safety and address theft. : The approved ordinance requires that retail stores staff at least one employee to monitor self-checkout lanes. Shoppers will be limited to 15 items or fewer, and they would not be able to purchase items that require I.D. , like alcohol.
: Mayor Valerie Amezcua said the ordinance is an attempt at protecting shoppers and employees, not at driving businesses out of Santa Ana.
“Similar to Costa Mesa and Long Beach, where we look at the employees and what benefits them,” Amezcua said, “I want to make sure our Santa Ana residents go home safely, and they don’t put themselves in danger because, again, the quality of their lives matter to me. ”“Unfortunately, we would be forced to consider passage of this ordinance at this time a dismissal of the importance of grocery and a denial of policy consideration in a fair and open manner,” Tim James, director of local government relations for the California Grocers Association, wrote.
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