A multi-agency enforcement effort called Operation Double Down has ended with more than two dozen arrests and the seizures of drugs and guns, Phoenix police said Thursday.

The Phoenix Police Department’s Drug Enforcement Bureau has been working with local, state and federal agencies in attacking the flow of illegal substances entering the state and later distributed throughout the country, according to a release.

“Investigators from all levels uncovered a transnational criminal organization that operated in the United States and Mexico, with the goal of selling and distributing millions of dollars in illegal drugs,” a Phoenix Police Department release stated.

“As part of the illegal enterprise, the organization laundered money to avoid detection and continued to distribute illicit drugs.”  

Operation Double Down was a seven-month investigation designed "to gather intelligence to identify and interdict people transporting illegal drugs throughout the region."

The cases were later handed off to state prosecutors who worked with investigators. After the operation, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office secured warrants for 25 people in the operation. Investigators also seized the following:  

• Approximately 1.7 million suspected fentanyl pills.
• More than 26 kilograms of fentanyl powder.
• 24 kilograms of cocaine.
• 2 pounds of methamphetamine.
• 13 pounds of heroin.
• Nearly $210,000.
• 14 vehicles.
• 28 guns.

The operation began in April 2024 and continued through November 2024; however, the processing of indictments and arrests remains active, authorities said.

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