Hawthorne and El Segundo police officers helped raid a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory tied to the Sinaloa Cartel on Tuesday, July 28, seizing 1,378 pounds of crystal and highly condensed liquid meth worth an estimated $12.5 million.
The bust, announced Monday, Aug. 3 by the Los Angeles Port Police, capped a six-month investigation into a cartel trafficking operation in the Los Angeles area. Three people were arrested at the lab, which authorities described only as located in "a remote desert area of Los Angeles County."
Both South Bay departments served on the multi-agency task force that executed the search warrant alongside the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Group 48, the DEA Special Response Team, the DEA Clandestine Laboratory Unit, and LA Port Police.
Six months of surveillance
The investigation launched in January 2026 when the DEA's New York Field Division and the DEA's Los Angeles HIDTA Group 48 began targeting the trafficking organization. Before pinpointing the lab, investigators seized 20,000 fentanyl pills and 20 pounds of methamphetamine using what Patch reported police called "confidential investigative methods."
Ground surveillance, electronic monitoring, and aerial reconnaissance eventually led the task force to the production site.
The raid
On July 28, the task force moved in. Officers recovered the 1,378 pounds of meth, roughly $80,000 in U.S. currency, and took three Mexican nationals into custody. The suspects' names have not been released.
No charges have been filed publicly.
Los Angeles Port Police Capt. Daniel Cobos said in the Aug. 3 press release that the task force's work continues to make a measurable impact on regional safety and drug trafficking suppression across multiple investigations.
South Bay departments' role
Hawthorne PD and El Segundo PD participate in HIDTA Group 48, a DEA-led multi-agency unit that operates across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, channeling federal resources to local departments in high-trafficking regions.
Neither Hawthorne nor El Segundo police have issued public statements detailing their specific roles in the investigation or the July 28 raid.
No further charges or next steps have been announced.
