Panorama City Drug Raid Nets 24 Suspects

Twenty-four people were arrested Friday night in Panorama City in what a police spokesman said was a crackdown on suspected drug trafficking in the area.

Spokesman John Jergensen said the raid was centered in the Blythe Street area near Van Nuys Boulevard. Seventeen undercover officers participated in the five-hour sweep, which began after several blocks of Blythe Street were closed by police.

The raid followed an undercover investigation of frequent heroin sales in the area, Jergensen said. The largely low-income neighborhood, consisting mostly of apartment houses, has a high incidence of burglary and narcotics-related arrests, he said.

After searching a series of apartments in the area, Jergensen said, police seized 30 balloons containing undetermined amounts of heroin and confiscated smaller amounts of cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines.

Those arrested were taken to Van Nuys Jail on charges ranging from suspicion of possession of heroin for sale to suspicion of using narcotics, he said.

Jergensen said police believe that the Blythe Street area has become a major source of heroin trafficking in the San Fernando Valley.