Federal drug surge in San Francisco nets 89 arrests, 2.2 kg fentanyl

Federal agents and San Francisco police said an eight-month crackdown on the city’s open-air drug markets ended with 89 arrests, more than 2.2 kilograms of fentanyl seized and more than 40 defendants facing federal trafficking charges. The sweep ran from early October 2025 through the end of May 2026 and, officials said, was built on coordinated federal and local enforcement rather than a single bust.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said the operation also turned up more than 840 grams of methamphetamine and more than $38,000 in drug proceeds. While the announcement did not break out every arrest block by block, the targets were the street-level drug markets that have long been most visible to San Franciscans, including the Tenderloin District, where fentanyl dealing and overdose conditions have repeatedly tested the city’s public-safety response.

U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian said San Francisco’s open-air drug markets were “rending the fabric of the city.” He tied the enforcement push to the city’s broader image and economic stakes, saying that after a successful Super Bowl and ahead of FIFA, visitors should see that San Francisco and the region are “stronger and safer than ever.” DEA Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris said the partnership acted as a “force multiplier” against drug trafficking organizations.

Scott Schelble, the FBI’s special agent in charge, said every arrest and seizure represented a meaningful step toward improving public safety. San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew said the department would continue working with federal partners to crack down on illegal drug markets. The agencies described the work as a coordinated surge that linked the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Francisco Police Department.

The June 5 announcement built on an earlier phase of the same San Francisco effort that had covered early October 2025 through early December 2025, when officials reported about 55 arrests, charges against 22 defendants and seizures that included more than 1.04 kilograms of fentanyl, more than 623 grams of methamphetamine, more than 140 grams of powder cocaine, more than 277 grams of cocaine base and more than 250 grams of heroin. That earlier fentanyl haul, prosecutors said, was enough to kill nearly half a million people.