11 Jailed on Weapons Charges; Gates Takes Slap at ‘Terrorists’

Announcing the arrests of 11 people on weapons charges related to the undercover purchase of more than a score of guns, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates on Thursday described “rock house” dealers and South-Central gang members as “urban terrorists. Little, miserable, rotten terrorists in our community.”

The operation announced in the joint news conference at the Federal Building with members of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was the second joint operation directed against weapon-carrying drug dealers and their associates, said Robert Skopeck, special agent in charge of the bureau’s Los Angeles office.

Its agents displayed 27 weapons they said were taken in the operation.

The joint task force, made up of members of the bureau and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Anti-Terrorist Division, was in operation for several weeks.

Undercover agents bought a number of weapons, including semi-automatic Uzi machine gun and several sawed-off shotguns, officials said. They described the sellers as gang members or associates of gang members, some with criminal records.

“I want you to take a careful look at these,” Gates said. “These are some of the best weapons you can find. They are armed better, probably, than the law enforcement agencies that have the problem of dealing with them.”

Joint task force members arrested five people on charges of being a felon in possession of firearms, which is a federal violation.

Five people have been charged with falsifying federal firearm acquisition forms. Gates said those arrests would not have been possible without the bureau’s ability to trace weapons to the point of sale.

The 11th person was charged with possession and transfer of weapons made from a shotgun.