From David Richie:
At least 100 law enforcement officers from a half dozen agencies fanned out over Yuba and Sutter counties today making 25 arrests while seizing large quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana as well as heroin, guns and money in a gang crackdown, the attorney general said.
"Tragically, gang activity is deeply embedded in many communities and is spreading throughout rural California," said California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. as he announced the results of "Operation Showdown."
The 25 suspects under arrest include at least six gang members and eight gang associates - Nortenos and Surenos active in Yuba City, Marysville and the surrounding county areas, Brown said. Investigators confiscated almost six pounds of methamphetamine, 42 pounds of marijuana, 21 guns, an unspecified amount of heroin and about $101,000 in cash.
One of the search warrants yielded what agents described as "186 gigantic marijuana plants capable of producing up to eight pounds of marijuana buds per plant," according to a press release.
Agents said the methamphetamine also was high quality. "A lot of it was Crystal Ice," said Michelle Gregory, spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.
Five children also were taken into protective custody during the sweep, Gregory said.
The raids were the culmination of a three-month investigation, Gregory said. During that interval undercover agents made more than 50 drug buys as well as gun purchases. Guns bought during the investigation included assault weapons.
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