Dozens arrested in San Francisco drug market crackdown, police say

By Carlos E. Castañeda

Dozens of people were arrested in San Francisco during a crackdown on illegal drug activity in different parts of the city, police announced Friday.

In a press release, the San Francisco Police Department said it began ramping up enforcement activity last week to combat drug sales and detain fugitives in Tenderloin, South of Market, and Mission neighborhoods. The California Highway Patrol also increased the number of officers assigned to assist the enforcement effort, police said.

The department said that since Oct. 28, at least 28 drug dealers have been arrested and more than nine pounds of narcotics seized, including fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Another 40 people with outstanding warrants for various crimes were also arrested during a one-day operation on Wednesday, police said.

“The SFPD is doubling down on our efforts to attack the drug markets in San Francisco as we continue to purge this illegal activity from our city,” Interim Police Chief Paul Yep said in a prepared statement. “Anyone who continues to deal and use drugs in San Francisco will be held accountable.” 

Last week, Yep reassigned members of several investigative and patrol units to assist the department’s outdoor drug market task force, and the enforcement operations would continue in the coming weeks. The SFPD’s Drug Market Agency Coordination Center is a multi-agency task force launched in 2023 to address crime and street conditions associated with open-air drug markets in the city.

“Since Day 1 of my administration, I said that we were going to end open-air drug markets, and we are doing that more aggressively than ever with stepped-up enforcement,” said Mayor Daniel Lurie in a video posted on social media. “Thanks to our local law enforcement, alongside our state and federal partners, we are targeting drug dealers and getting fentanyl off the streets.”

The police department said it was also working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI in its crackdown.