Ten people are in custody after U.S. Park Police raided a block near Mellon Street SE in Southeast Washington on Wednesday night, walking away with drugs worth more than $100,000 and a cache of 10 firearms, three of which had been reported stolen. Officers took every suspect into custody without incident, though their identities have not been released.
According to DC News Now, officers executed a search warrant around 7:45 p.m. in the area of Mellon Street SE. The outlet reports that U.S. Park Police seized large quantities of marijuana, cocaine, PCP, fentanyl and MDMA during the operation, with the combined haul valued at more than $100,000 on the street.
Ten Firearms, Three Flagged as Stolen
Beyond the drugs, officers recovered 10 firearms from the scene. Three of those guns had been reported stolen, per the same report from U.S. Park Police. No further details on the weapons' origins or the circumstances behind the thefts were released.
Police have not disclosed the names, ages, or any charges facing the 10 people taken into custody. The station's report does not indicate whether the suspects have appeared in court or what, if anything, comes next in the case.
Part of a Pattern of DC-Area Seizures
The Mellon Street SE bust follows a string of similar U.S. Park Police operations around the district in recent months. In January, four people were detained after officers seized over 28 pounds of marijuana during a Thursday morning raid in Northwest DC, according to DC News Now. In a separate search on K Street NE, U.S. Park Police recovered three firearms and about a pound of marijuana during an early-morning warrant execution, WJLA reported.
No additional information about the Southeast DC suspects, the specific quantities of each drug recovered, or how investigators arrived at the six-figure valuation has been made public. As with the earlier Northwest DC and K Street NE cases, the full scope of what charges, if any, may follow remains unknown.
