Drug Raid at Orange County Hotel Fails to Locate Drugs

Another one for the Balko file. About 50 SWAT officers from the City of Orange swooped in to conduct a drug raid at a hotel today, bringing with them "at least a dozen DEA agents, a K9 unit, police helicopters and an armored vehicle from Anaheim," according to Orange County Register reporter Denisse Salazar. (Update: note the comment below indicating that it was a DEA raid that turned into a SWAT scenario rather than the other way around. That is also the impression one gets from the LA Times writeup of the incident.)

They evacuated the hotel and at least 20 surrounding businesses, and fired tear gas into one of the hotel rooms. They recovered two guns and a tazer, and arrested three people.

They found no drugs.

(Above and Below: Don't shoot, please. Raid photos by Bruce Chambers, Orange County Register.)

Comments

[JIm Johnson]

It was the DEA's drug raid that found no drugs. They called for the OPD SWAT team...It wasn't initiated by the OPD. don't get your facts mixed up.

[Gritsforbreakfast]

I love how when they really find nothing, they report that they found guns. Guns are legal. They probably also found luggage, car keys, toiletries, and other legal items, but they aren't touting that to the press.

I don't know about CA, but in Texas it's legal to carry guns when you're traveling, and there'd be nothing either illegal or implausible about finding a couple of guns in a motel room. But we get the same type of coverage, "Ooooh, he had a gun, the horror," which is ironic since TX is supposed to be a pro-2nd Amendment state.

Terrific pic with the passerby - really says it all.