SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Federal authorities have announced four grand jury indictments against 42 alleged members and associates of the Poway-based gang Varrio Hidden Hills, following a two-year FBI investigation into an alleged drug distribution operation stretching from Oceanside to the U.S.-Mexico border.
So far, 35 people have been arrested. The investigation also brought a heavy law enforcement presence to a Lemon Grove neighborhood earlier this week, where FBI agents came under fire while attempting to serve a federal arrest warrant.
Residents near Glebe Street and San Miguel Avenue woke up early Wednesday morning to the sound of flash bangs and gunshots.
“I thought it was a neighbor banging on the garage or something,” said Eric Dobberteen, who has lived in the neighborhood for about three years.
Dobberteen said the normally peaceful neighborhood was unlike anything he had experienced before.
“It's a very quiet neighborhood. We're not very neighborly. We don't speak to many of them, but everyone just keeps to themselves,” he said.
Dobberteen captured video of the law enforcement activity from his front yard. He said police lights were visible when he stepped outside, and FBI agents instructed him to return indoors.
“I could see all the police lights, and the FBI told me to go back inside,” Dobberteen said. “We heard the flash bangs going off every 15 minutes for a couple hours, and then it slowed down.”
The operation was part of a larger federal takedown that authorities say targeted an alleged drug trafficking network connected to Varrio Hidden Hills.
During a press conference, U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon announced four federal grand jury indictments charging 42 individuals. The charges include alleged drug distribution, drug possession and conspiracy.
According to the Department of Justice, a man associated with the Mexican Mafia allegedly organized a drug distribution operation involving methamphetamine and fentanyl, with activity extending from Oceanside to the U.S.-Mexico border.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily said the dangers of the operation became clear on the first day of the arrests, when agents came under fire while attempting to execute a federal arrest warrant at a Lemon Grove residence.
“The complexity and dangers of this operation were made clear on the first day of the takedown when agents came under fire through the front door of a residence as they attempted to execute a lawful federal arrest warrant in Lemon Grove,” Remily said.
Authorities confirmed no one was injured in the shooting. The incident remains under investigation.
Gordon said the case highlights how alleged gang activity can operate within otherwise ordinary residential communities.
“This case is a reminder that gang crime doesn't always look the way that people expect. It doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes it operates quietly behind an ordinary suburban landscape, but out of sight doesn't mean out of mind,” Gordon said.
Federal authorities say the investigation is ongoing, with additional charges pending and more arrests expected.
