A year-long police investigation into a drug-dealing operation in the East Village resulted in grand jury indictments against 51 people on more than 300 charges, officials announced Thursday. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Criptonite,” targeted dozens of people associated with a local sect of the Crips street gang that allegedly sold drugs — primarily near 16th and K streets — in an “open-air drug market,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said during a news conference.
“The San Diego Police Department is constantly monitoring areas that become hotspots for crime,” said police Chief David Nisleit. “The residents’ calls for services and complaints in this area showed that we had to do something.” Stephan said residents in the area called police nearly 56,000 times during the two-year period, leading investigators to believe the gang was causing a “rampage of lawlessness and destruction” in East Village.