Police arrested 96 men, including 75 students of the San Diego University in an undercover drug investigation which started six months ago, the district attorney's office said Tuesday.
After infiltrating seven fraternities on Fraternity Row and Fraternity Circle and attending numerous parties, undercover agents found evidence of widespread drug dealing among the students. One of the fraternities even went so far as sending mass text messages advertising cocaine among its members.
After gathering sufficient evidence, police conducted several raids. Police officers found 50 pounds of marijuana, 48 marijuana plants, 350 ecstasy pills and 30 vials of hashish oil, as well as cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms, methamphetamine and illicit prescription drugs.
Besides narcotics, police also recovered a shotgun, three semiautomatic pistols, brass knuckles and $60,000 in cash, authorities said.
Approximately 29 people were arrested in the raids carried out on Tuesday. The cocaine, ecstasy and the three fire guns were found at the Theta Chi fraternity, police said.
Investigators said the profits obtained by selling the narcotics were used to finance the fraternity’s operations.
Authorities said the 96 men were arrested on various drug charges as a result of Operation Sudden Fall, as police called the six-month investigation.
One of the men arrested on drug charges is a 19-year-old who had been praised as a model student in a university magazine. Another one was just a month away from getting his master’s degree in homeland security and had worked as a campus security officer.
"This operation shows how accessible and pervasive illegal drugs continue to be on our college campuses and how common it is for students to be selling to other students," said San Diego County Dist. Atty. Bonnie Dumanis, according to The Los Angeles Times.