In the largest mass arrest in Orange County history, a small army of police and FBI agents arrested more than 100 alleged drug and weapons dealers today, capping a 7-month investigation in which police infiltrated some of the region's most notorious street gangs.
SWAT officers take a man into custody.
As the police mole worked, law enforcement officers sat in a nearby vehicle capturing deals on the latest in cutting-edge surveillance equipment, much of it donated by private technology companies. Armed with the panel's sealed indictments, more than 400 officers from federal, state and local agencies helped in Wednesday's dawn raid. With snipers perched atop nearby roof, officers smashed windows and hauled bleary-eyed members of the Santa Nita and rival gangs from their homes, some of them clad only in underwear. Residents of the area had grown accustomed to watching daylight drug and weapons and stolen property deals in front of their homes. They're a bunch of animals.