San Francisco police, in partnership with two federal agencies, announced Tuesday they’ve arrested 18 alleged mid-level drug traffickers based in Oakland and seized 17 pounds of illegal narcotics, including 12.5 pounds of fentanyl.
The three-day operation was conducted last week in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. The three agencies enforced 11 search warrants, six state and five federal, across nine different undisclosed locations.
The suspects were part of a southern California based drug trafficking organization which bulk sourced fentanyl and other narcotics to mid-level traffickers in Oakland, who then supplied street-level dealers in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.
Eighteen suspects face charges, eight of which had already been federally charged. Two more face federal Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives charges, and another eight face state charges in Alameda County.
In addition to the 12.5 pounds of fentanyl, authorities recovered 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 1.5 pounds of cocaine, and 1.25 pounds of heroin, and 22.8 grams of oxycodone. They also seized three firearms, two 30-round high-capacity magazines and $27,000 in U.S. currency.
SFGate reported that that amount of fentanyl could theoretically kill 2.85 million people, since two milligrams is enough for a lethal dose.
Investigators said that they suspect the drugs have fueled gun violence in the Tenderloin, where fatal and non-fatal shootings have increased by 71% in the past year.
According to data from the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, through the end of September 2021, 511 people in the city have died to drug overdoses, primarily fentanyl. In 2020, 712 people died from accidental drug overdoses for the entire year.
"The staggering loss of life we’ve seen due to drug overdoses is a public health calamity San Franciscans haven’t witnessed since the height of the AIDS crisis," Chief of Police Bill Scott said in a statement.
"Our street drug trade has been nearly twice as deadly as COVID-19 in San Francisco. While the primary chemical culprit is fentanyl, drug-related gun violence is beginning to take an increasingly troubling toll."
"We are incredibly thankful to Acting U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds; DEA Special Agent in Charge Wade D. Shannon; ATF Special Agent in Charge Patrick Gorman and their enormously dedicated investigators and prosecutors who’ve been our full partners in this operation. I also want to acknowledge the outstanding work of SFPD officers directly involved in this operation, from the SFPD Narcotics Unit, which played a lead role in this case; our Crime Gun Intelligence Center officers; and our police officers from Tenderloin Station, who work so hard to safeguard a neighborhood disproportionately victimized by drug trafficking."
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