SWEEP NETS 40 SUSPECTED OF DEALING DRUGS

More Than 100 DEA, State And Local Officers Hit East P.A. With Operation Summer-Heat

Hours before the sun rose Tuesday, more than 100 law enforcement officers strapped on Kevlar bulletproof vests and spread out through the streets of East Palo Alto in a surprise attack on suspected drug dealers.

By midafternoon, police called in the press to proclaim a victory.

Agents from more than a dozen local, state and federal agencies made about 40 arrests, seized crack cocaine and black tar heroin and discovered several weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle. More arrests were expected.

It was the culmination of four months of undercover buys and intelligence gathering. The Drug Enforcement Administration called it Operation Summer-Heat.

Its generals said that as much as it was a move to rid the streets of potentially violent street criminals, it was also intended to deliver a message.

"Things were just reaching a point that we need a suppression effort," said DEA Special Agent Gilbert Bruce of the San Francisco division. "We wanted to send a message to the street dealers that they weren't welcome in East Palo Alto."

The unsolved shooting of three men late last month has been tied to crack cocaine. All of the victims are expected to live.

This was not the first such strategic attack on drugs in the city. Various law enforcement agencies have swept East Palo Alto since it was known for its bloody drug and gang wars in the early 1990s. Since then, violent and other types of serious crime have dropped dramatically.

"East Palo Alto has, in fact, turned the corner," said San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley. "It is a much-changed community."

Another purpose of the operation was to show residents that police were still working hard on the job, agents said.

Police Chief Wesley Bowling acknowledged that some of the dealers arrested Tuesday would be back selling drugs in the city. He said such sweeps could give residents about a two-year respite from these drug dealers, if they are convicted.

"The cycle starts over, but at least we given the community a breather to give them a chance to change things which will perhaps eliminate the drug dealers from wanting to come back."

Bruce said the DEA would follow up on this operation in the coming months, charting the street corners, community complaints, drug arrests and recidivism to measure its effectiveness.

"We will be in touch with the chief to see that this does have a lasting effect," the DEA agent said. "If it doesn't we'll come back and do it again."