Federalized National Guard Deployed East of LA for Major Drug Raid in Coachella Valley

Recently, National Guard troops sent to help with government operations in the Los Angeles area were seen more than 130 miles east, allowing the Drug Enforcement Administration with a big marijuana raid in the Coachella Valley. Soldiers from the 143rd Military Police Battalion and 670th Military Police Company of the California National Guard took part in a DEA operation last week in and around Thermal, a small town in the middle of nowhere near the Salton Sea.

Authorities arrested between 70 and 75 people during the operation, which took place on 787 acres and mainly targeted illegal immigrants. The DEA's Los Angeles Field Division, which led the probe, said that at least one of the people arrested was a citizen of the United States. A government search warrant from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California allowed the raid to go after three large-scale illegal marijuana grow sites.

As part of Task Force 51, which was set up by U.S. Northern Command to coordinate active-duty and federally activated Guard troops, the Guardsmen were following Title 10 federal orders. Pictures on DVIDS showed troops with riot shields and Humvees securing the edges of Thermal and the nearby unincorporated town of Mecca.

This marks the farthest eastward movement of these troops since their arrival, despite the original goal of the deployment being to support operations in the Los Angeles area. Mayor Steven Hernandez of Coachella stated that federal workers went through several communities. This made immigrant rights groups worried, as they said that federal agents were knocking on doors.

Hernandez said, "It was a large mobilization." He also noted that the size of the operation surprised many local leaders. Activists are concerned about how it might impact vulnerable groups in the region, particularly those without legal documentation to reside there.