Cops rush drug-addled zombies in new blitz on LAs notorious MacArthur Park

Federal agents and police in tactical vehicles swarmed drug users and dealers in one of California’s most notorious public parks on Wednesday night as part of an ongoing blitz to rid the area of crime.Executed by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency in partnership with the Los Angeles police, “Operation Free MacArthur Park” aims to eradicate the open-air drug markets that have befouled downtown LA’s once-proud greenspace.Roughly 100 agents and police officers stormed the park Wednesday in the second such sweep since the operation began earlier this month, targeting stupefied users  openly smoking fentanyl at the park’s the litter-strewn corners. Anthony Chrysanthis, head of the DEA’s Los Angeles office, told The Post that the nighttime sweep was part of an ongoing effort to maintain pressure on dealers and users.“We want the criminals to know that it doesn’t matter when you go, we can show up and we can control the park whenever need be,” Chrysanthis said.“This is the commitment that we’ve promised to the people of LA,” he added.Chrysanthis said latest push is meant to target users themselves, after successful raids took out narco-gang leadership and major suppliers of fentanyl and methamphetamine.When Operation Free MacArthur Park began with an initial sweep on June 4, police made 13 arrests and issued six citations in less than an hour.In a subsequent visit to the park, DEA agents and police made six felony arrests, and issued two misdemeanor charges and nine citations.Wednesday night’s sweep was the third and latest effort in the ongoing project.The push is already yielding results, Chrysanthis said.In some cases, undercover agents have been unable to purchase drugs in the park since the sweeps began, he said.More than a century old and originally conceived as LA’s Champs-Élysées, MacArthur Park fell park fell on hard times in the 1980’s as dealers and gangs moved in, with as many as 30 murders occurring there in 1990.Today,...