The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested 50 people in their Skid Row drug investigation.
Drug dealers often target the homeless Skid Row residents when they are receiving their government assistance checks at the beginning of each month.
On Friday, the department announced that they had made 50 arrests and have 16 more pending after a two-year long drug investigation.
“This investigation showed us there are people living in the suburbs, some with violent criminal histories, who wake up every day and make the conscious decision to commute to the Downtown area and sell dangerous and highly addictive drugs on the streets,” Drug Enforcement Agency L.A. Field Division Special Agent in Charge Bill Bodner said in a statement on Friday.
“Their target customers in many cases are people experiencing homelessness. With drug caused deaths up nationally over 30% from last year, and the signs of mental health struggles and substance use disorder becoming more and more evident in our city, we must continue to take steps like this investigation to stop this callous exploitation and victimization of our most vulnerable communities,” Bodner added.
According to a report from Fox News, “the police department seized 5 kilograms of cocaine, 857 pounds of methamphetamine, 5 pounds of heroin, 1 kilogram of fentanyl, more than 46,000 fentanyl pills, six firearms and approximately $250,000 in cash from narcotics sales.”
Defendants are facing up to 10 years in prison if they are convicted of the more serious charges, the department said.
According to estimates from the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, in 2020 there were approximately 4,700 people living on Skid Row. They did not attempt a count in 2021 due to the pandemic.
In 2020, there were approximately 41,000 homeless people throughout the city.
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