‘Zero Tolerance’ Comes to Santa Ana Streets

A joint operation by the Santa Ana Police Department and federal law enforcement agencies introduced a tough, new policy against Santa Ana drug peddlers and buyers this weekend, as more than 25 people were arrested and cars and cash were seized.

Santa Ana police spokesman Lt. Robert Chavez on Sunday said the sweep Friday and Saturday was part of Operation Safe Customer, which represented the first time officers in Orange County have directed their attention at narcotics buyers and seized their cars.

The new approach, Chavez said, is part of the government’s use of new federal “zero-tolerance” drug seizure laws.

“And the message in Santa Ana is, if you sell or buy (drugs), you might lose your car and your money,” he said.

Law enforcement officers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. marshal’s office, U.S. attorney’s office and federal immigration agents joined Santa Ana police during the two-day drug sweep on Walnut Street between Bristol and Pacific streets.

Residents said Sunday that the officers “came in like a storm,” parked their cars and immediately began questioning suspects and searching cars.

41 Arrested in L.A.

Chavez declined to identify those arrested and also refused to elaborate on the sweep, noting that details are expected to be announced at a press conference today, which U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner is expected to attend.

The arrests and seizures marked the third time that local and federal officers in Southern California have joined forces under the new federal seizure laws.

In January, Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies and officers arrested 41 people involved in sales of rock cocaine and seized 23 automobiles at a Lancaster motel.

Then in March, Los Angeles officers and federal officers made 46 arrests in South-Central Los Angeles and seized nearly $160,000 in cars and cash.

The area targeted this weekend in Santa Ana is just south of First Street and west of Bristol Street in a predominantly Latino neighborhood where drug sales occur openly. The area is a mix of apartment houses and single-family homes.

Residents said that on Saturday they saw at least seven police cars and a van parked behind a shopping plaza.

Officers swooped in and immediately began questioning people suspected of selling or buying illicit drugs and searching their cars, residents said.

Federal drug seizure laws permit officers to confiscate the vehicles of people suspected of being dealers and customers, Chavez said.

He declined to detail the number of cars or to say whether weapons were seized.

Chavez did say the department’s use of zero-tolerance laws was needed to help fight street drug sales in some neighborhoods: “It means you can have a couple of joints in your car, and your car can be seized.”

Two Marijuana Cigarettes

One resident who did not wish to be identified said he saw officers confiscating a man’s car after they found two marijuana cigarettes.

Spokesmen at several Santa Ana towing companies said they were kept busy during the weekend by police. One dispatcher, who did not know the total number of cars towed away during the sweep, said that on Saturday “quite a few” cars had been impounded and taken to their lot.

Times staff writers Donn Walker and Eric Healy contributed to this report.