If you want to get away and hang out where nobody will find you, the vast, mostly uninhabited deserts of Southern California are a good option — if you don’t mind extreme heat and brutal conditions.
It’s also the perfect place to operate a clandestine narcotics operation, and that’s exactly what the LA Port Police and other law enforcement agencies are accusing members of the notorious Mexican Sinaloa cartel of doing. In a July 28 raid, they discovered millions of dollars’ worth of crystal methamphetamine, highly condensed liquid meth, and huge wads of cash.
The Port Police posted the bust to social media Monday:
In a statement, the department said it was a multi-agency effort — and it wasn’t the only one they’ve successfully conducted recently:
On July 28, HIDTA 48, DEA Special Response Team, DEA Clandestine Laboratory Unit, Los Angeles Port Police, Hawthorne Police Department, and El Segundo Police Department executed a search warrant on the suspected methamphetamine production site. The operation resulted in the seizure of 1,378 pounds of methamphetamine—both crystal and highly condensed liquid—valued at approximately $12.5 million. Investigators also recovered roughly $80,000 in U.S. currency, and three Mexican nationals responsible for manufacturing the narcotics were taken into custody.
This major seizure follows another successful narcotics investigation in Riverside County, where officers recovered 119 kilograms of cocaine, two firearms, and identified three suspects. In a separate commercial crimes operation, Cargo Theft Task Force Officers dismantled a sophisticated theft ring responsible for stealing more than $2 million in Nike merchandise. That investigation led to felony indictments against 12 individuals.
As our Ben Smith reported in July, we don’t have to worry about at least one cartel menace anytime soon:
Good Riddance: Sinaloa Cartel Kingpin ‘El Mayo’ Will Die Behind Bars
Crackdown? Eight Mexican Drug Cartels Are Designated 'Foreign Terrorist Organizations'
Who are the Los Angeles Port Police, you might ask? They’re not nearly as well-known as the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) or the California Highway Patrol (CHP), but they play a crucial role in clamping down on the bad guys trying to get illicit goods, weapons and drugs either in or out of the City of Angels:
The Los Angeles Port Police force is a specialized law enforcement agency that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the Port of Los Angeles from threats whether by land, sea, air or cyberspace. Comprised of more than 300 sworn officers and civilian personnel, the force’s jurisdiction spans 7,500 acres along 43 miles of waterfront.
The Sinaloa Cartel (Cártel de Sinaloa), meanwhile, is one of the most powerful illegal drug syndicates in the Western Hemisphere and was formed in the late 1980s in the Mexican state of the same name. It was designated a terrorist organization by the Trump administration in February 2025 — and that could spell serious trouble for these guys, because that official label gives law enforcement significant additional prosecutorial tools.
The cartels have been at war with — and in — the United States for years now. It’s always nice to see us taking the fight to them.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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