We demanded action on MacArthur Park — and feds, LAPD delivered

“MacArthur Park belongs to the people of Los Angeles again!”

Those were the words Wednesday afternoon of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Anthony Chrysanthis, after two separate raids on alleged drug dealers in the area, as part of “Operation Free MacArthur Park.”

The California Post has reported on the crime, drugs, and decay in once-proud MacArthur Park for months.

We showed how dangerous it is now the scourge of fentanyl has turned an iconic monument into a national disgrace.

We, and our readers, demanded action. And the FBI, DEA, and LAPD have delivered.

On Wednesday morning, The Post observed as two dozen officers from the DEA conducted a surprise raid in on an alleged stash house in south LA, arresting suspected gang members and drug dealers.

The suspects allegedly tried, without much success, to flush baggies of fentanyl down the toilet to hide the evidence.

According to federal officials, the raid targeted alleged narco queen Mallaly Moreno-Lopez and her partner, Tafur Jackson-Lora. Other houses, including a mansion in the posh enclave of Calabasas, were also raided.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said that the operation targeted the mid-level distributors who have supplied fentanyl to the park, which has become a major open-air drug den in downtown LA.

A separate raid Wednesday targeted MacArthur Park and the surrounding streets, with LAPD officers playing a crucial role.

Now there is a chance for MacArthur park to return to what it once was, and maybe win the war against fentanyl in LA.

It’s worth noting that as The California Post called for action, local politicians scandalously tried to protect MacArthur Park from any effective law enforcement action.

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City Council member Eunisses Hernandez, in particular, opposed cleaning up the park — until The Post started taking her to task for it.

Then she was eager to show friendly media how much she was doing.

The real credit goes to the men and women of law enforcement, and to the Trump administration, which hired Bill Essayli to lead prosecutions in the Central District of California.

Essayli was a Republican leader in the legislature in Sacramento, and is leading by example in the Department of Justice.

His Democratic opponents tried to shut him up, abusing their power to kick him off a legislative committee in 2024.

They thought they had seen the last of him. They thought they had silenced him.

But Essayli came roaring back. He has been energetic, ambitious, and unyielding in the fight against crime and corruption in LA and California.

Somewhere in Sacramento, there are Democrats with regrets. Bill Essayli was safer to them giving speeches in the state capitol.

Now he’s building a track record on the streets of LA. And he’s showing that with a little political will, and with the help of the brave men and women of the FBI and DEA, even MacArthur Park is a challenge we can overcome.

The same is true for the California Post. In our first 100 days, California Post has shown we will tell the stories others won’t to fix problems like MacArthur Park.

We’ll continue to the good fight.