Seven suspects were arrested and illegal guns and drugs were seized after an 11-month San Diego Police Department investigation into alleged sales through social media, primarily in the College Area, investigators said. Mid-City Division detectives served 15 search warrants and confiscated two po unds of cocaine, eight gallon-sized bags of marijuana, five gallon-sized bags of psychedelic mushrooms, 630 Xanax pills and some Percocet pills, according to investigators. “It was an all-hands-on deck. It’s been taking place for several months going back to December,” Mid-City Lt. Tyler Doherty said. Police also recovered 16 firearms, including some rifles with illegal modifications, as well as high-capacity magazines and firearm build kits. “We had multiple suspects that had firearms throughout the investigation. Some were assault rifles, some people were building them,” Doherty said. The firearms were a particular concern for investigators. Police said one of the seven suspects arrested had posted a threat to migrants on social media. “Showed a photo of himself looking through a scope pointed toward a Home Depot,” Doherty said. Doherty said the investigation began when detectives searched online for drug sales. Officers offered to buy a recreational amount of cocaine through one suspect’s Instagram account. That led to an arrest and additional alleged online drug and gun dealers, according to police. Doherty said there was no specific customer base, but the ages of the suspects, their use of online platforms and their activity in the College Area indicated young people were likely targets. San Diego State University student Hedil Aslan said messaging apps can be used to purchase illegal drugs and guns and for gambling. “You get to the groups like that for drugs for guns as well. I have never been in these groups,” Aslan said. “If you just do Google research in two minutes you will find anything,” Aslan said. Doherty said social media provided investigators with leads in the drug and gun investigation. “It allowed investigators to create a foundation for the case,” Doherty said. The nearly yearlong investigation involved the Mid-City Division’s Narcotics Task Force, the SDPD Criminal Intelligence Unit and the Central Division Downtown Response Team. Investigators said their work is continuing. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication. ...read more read less