28 Arrested, 18 Cars Seized in Undercover Drug Sweeps : Crime: The operations mark the first time vehicles, including two $40,000 Jaguars, were confiscated from those who only asked to buy drugs.

Los Angeles police and FBI agents seized 18 cars and made 28 arrests this week in the San Fernando Valley in a narcotics operation that had undercover officers posing as drug dealers catering to drive-up customers.

It was the first time in the Valley that police seized vehicles from drivers who had asked to buy drugs but did not actually make the purchases, police said.

The arrests and seizures were made Monday near Roscoe Boulevard and Variel Avenue in Canoga Park and on Orion Avenue near Nordhoff Street in Sepulveda on Tuesday night, police said.

Lt. Gary Rogness, head of the Valley’s narcotics squad, said both areas are considered drive-up drug “hot spots.” He said the Orion Avenue location has had an upswing in street drug activity because police last month used barricades to keep drug dealers and buyers out of a neighborhood six blocks away, resulting in much of the narcotics business moving to Orion.

Rogness said all but three of the arrests were made under a state law making the solicitation of narcotics illegal.

“It is a crime to merely ask for it,” he said. “We want to send that message. If we didn’t have people driving in to buy drugs, we wouldn’t have the dealers in these neighborhoods.”

The three other arrests were for cocaine sales, cocaine possession and an outstanding traffic warrant.

The cars, including two Jaguars valued at $40,000 each, were seized under federal forfeiture laws, Rogness said. Though police frequently have seized cars belonging to alleged drug buyers, this week’s operation was the first in which cars were taken from owners who only asked for drugs from undercover officers who they thought were drug dealers, Rogness said.

The 2-year-old drug solicitation law is a misdemeanor for first-time offenders, possibly making the loss of a car the greater deterrent to drug buying, Rogness said.

“These people not only have to go through the court system for these arrests,” he said, “they have another problem as well: They’ve lost their car.”