Pubdate: Wed, 08 Nov 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Fax: (213) 237-7679
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/discuss/
Author: Richard Winton, Times Staff Writer

62 ARRESTED IN 6-MONTH DRUG, GANG CRACKDOWN IN PASADENA

Pasadena police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration announced 
Thursday that a six-month joint operation--much of it undercover--had 
netted 62 arrests, many of them of gang members involved in drug dealing.

During a news conference at police headquarters, Police Chief Bernard K. 
Melekian said agents from the DEA's Mobile Enforcement Unit had worked 
alongside his officers, targeting drug dealers in the Rose Parade city.

"I am not so naive as to believe we've solved the problem of narcotics 
trafficking [in Pasadena]," Melekian said. "But at least we put those 
individuals who are inclined to traffic in narcotics on notice that this is 
not a good place to do it."

The arrests were made periodically throughout the joint operation, he said. 
Of the 62 arrested, 38 were known gang members, Melekian said. Most of the 
people apprehended are in jail awaiting trial. Ten who were already on 
parole or probation have been sent back to prison, he added.

Melekian said the sting hits gangs hard because drugs are the means to 
financing their lifestyle and arsenals. The majority of the suspects were 
found in the city's impoverished Northwest side, he said.

Pasadena police Lt. Keith Jones, who helped supervise the operation, said 
it has cut further into the ranks of hard-core gang members, whose numbers 
have dwindled considerably in recent years because of other law enforcement 
crackdowns.

Police now put the number of hard-core gang members in the city at between 
400 and 500.

Melekian and Michele Leonhart, a DEA special agent in charge, displayed 19 
weapons and 17 pounds of drugs that were confiscated during the raids.

Contraband included an M-16 assault rifle, a few shotguns, a selection of 
military-style rifles, several handguns and a 12-gauge pistol seemingly 
made from a shotgun.
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