70 ARRESTED IN ID CRACKDOWN CITY AFTER PEDDLERS OF FORGED DOCUMENTS AT MACARTHUR PARK.Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer In its continuing crackdown on phony IDs, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. officials announced Tuesday they have arrested 70 people and confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. more than 31,000 blank cards that could be used to generate false documents. Mayor James Hahn For the Iowa politician, see . James Kenneth "Jim" Hahn (born July 3, 1950) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. He was the Deputy City Attorney (1975-1979), City Controller (1981-1985), City Attorney (1985-2001) and Mayor of Los Angeles, California , City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo Rockard John "Rocky" Delgadillo (born July 15 1960) is the current City Attorney of Los Angeles, California. Career
``People usually think of this as an issue where a kid is trying to get a fake ID to get into R-rated movies or buy a beer,'' Delgadillo said. ``But it's much more serious than that. ``It has the potential of selling documents to terrorists, and it helps pay for gang activities that result in promoting violence and drugs.'' Hahn said documents and equipment confiscated recently had a street value of $1.2 million. Officials said a person could buy a package of documents - a driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something , identity card, Social Security card and work permit - for under $200, depending on their negotiating skills. ``MacArthur Park long has been known as a center where people can get phony IDs, and we want to stop it,'' Hahn said, adding the crackdown is the second in an ongoing operation to clean up the park. ``False identity cards have been used to cross international borders, purchase firearms, transfer U.S. funds into foreign banks and allowed criminals to board airplanes,'' Hahn said. Officials, however, said none of the arrests made appeared to have connections with any terrorist groups. Bratton said the police were concerned with how the phony ID business fueled gangs. ``Anytime you see activity like this here, you see gangs involved,'' Bratton said, adding officials believe the gangs are paid off to provide protection. The city officials worked with the District Attorney's Office and representatives from the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States as part of the crackdown. Rick Orlov, (213) 978-0390 rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion