62 ARRESTED IN 6-MONTH DRUG, GANG CRACKDOWN IN PASADENA

Pasadena police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration announced
Thursday that a six-month joint operation--much of it undercover--had
netted 62 arrests, many of them of gang members involved in drug dealing.

During a news conference at police headquarters, Police Chief Bernard K.
Melekian said agents from the DEA's Mobile Enforcement Unit had worked
alongside his officers, targeting drug dealers in the Rose Parade city.

"I am not so naive as to believe we've solved the problem of narcotics
trafficking [in Pasadena]," Melekian said. "But at least we put those
individuals who are inclined to traffic in narcotics on notice that this is
not a good place to do it."

The arrests were made periodically throughout the joint operation, he said.
Of the 62 arrested, 38 were known gang members, Melekian said. Most of the
people apprehended are in jail awaiting trial. Ten who were already on
parole or probation have been sent back to prison, he added.

Melekian said the sting hits gangs hard because drugs are the means to
financing their lifestyle and arsenals. The majority of the suspects were
found in the city's impoverished Northwest side, he said.

Pasadena police Lt. Keith Jones, who helped supervise the operation, said
it has cut further into the ranks of hard-core gang members, whose numbers
have dwindled considerably in recent years because of other law enforcement
crackdowns.

Police now put the number of hard-core gang members in the city at between
400 and 500.

Melekian and Michele Leonhart, a DEA special agent in charge, displayed 19
weapons and 17 pounds of drugs that were confiscated during the raids.

Contraband included an M-16 assault rifle, a few shotguns, a selection of
military-style rifles, several handguns and a 12-gauge pistol seemingly
made from a shotgun.