35 Arrested in Drug Raid at Carson Townhouses : Crime: Deputies responding to neighborhood complaints pick up 12 suspected narcotics dealers and 23 alleged customers.

Growing up in a heavily industrialized area of Carson, Lori Lee said, she and other children from the community earned extra money by taking part-time jobs at fast-food restaurants and supermarkets along Avalon and Sepulveda boulevards--the neighborhood’s main thoroughfares.

Now the young and the old in the Scottsdale Town Houses, where she lives with her family, sell drugs instead, she said.

Responding to neighborhood complaints, a monthlong investigation into drug dealing at the large townhouse development culminated Saturday when Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrested 12 suspected drug dealers and 23 customers at three homes in the 350-unit complex, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Terry Judge.

Deputies with search warrants went to the homes on Boothill, Geronimo and Lariat lanes, where they seized 190 grams of marijuana, an undetermined amount of money, five handguns and a rifle, Judge said. Ten men and two women--whose names were not available--were arrested and booked on charges of possession and sale of cocaine, he said.

After the alleged drug dealers were arrested, deputies posed as drug dealers and began selling rock cocaine to unsuspecting customers around the complex, Judge said. A total of 23 customers--20 men and three women--were arrested.

These suspects were booked on charges that included being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of cocaine and being an ex-felon with a gun.

Bail for all those arrested ranged from $20,000 to $1,000, Judge said.

As Lee, a 27-year-old private nurse, reflected Sunday on the arrests at the townhouse complex, she said: “This used to be a nice place. People used to have barbecues, kids used to be on the playgrounds. We used to have parties at the town center (the activity room in the complex) and people used to have house parties.

“Now, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, with this drug world, that’s taken care of everything and how everyone lives,” she said.

And many Scottsdale residents--a diverse racial and ethnic mix--expressed doubt Sunday that the arrests would do little to combat the drug problem in the area, also a known site of heavy gang activity.

“This place is never going to change,” said saleswoman Evelyn Demerath, 20, who has lived at the complex since she was 12. “You probably get kids here, 9 or 10 years old, selling dope with their beepers. You can only go to jail so many times, but for them, they don’t care.”

Other residents said they wished police would do more to crack down on the drug trafficking--saying that a more continual presence would deter drug dealers and buyers, while providing comfort to those who are frightened by the drug crimes in their area.

“Since I’ve moved down here, my life has changed,” said Sergio Salcido, 18, who moved to Scottsdale from Torrance four months ago with his family. “Now I’m scared and, at the same time, I think about fighting back and killing people if they do something to me. I want some protection.”