Seven people face felony charges after San Diego police dismantled a narcotics and illegal weapons network that used Instagram to sell drugs to college students in Pacific Beach, City Heights and Downtown San Diego.

The San Diego Police Department disclosed the arrests in a news release Tuesday, Aug. 11, detailing the results of an 11-month investigation led by Mid-City Division detectives. The arrests were made in June 2026 after detectives executed 15 search warrants on homes, vehicles and social media accounts across San Diego County.

Pacific Beach, La Jolla's neighbor to the south, was one of three neighborhoods where detectives identified residences and vehicles being used to manufacture, store and distribute drugs and illegal weapons.

What police seized

The haul included more than a kilogram (about 2 pounds) of cocaine, eight gallon-sized bags of marijuana, five gallon-sized bags of psilocybin mushrooms, 630 Xanax pills, Percocet pills, digital scales and more than $40,000 in cash.

Detectives also recovered 16 firearms, including rifles with illegal modifications, handguns with loaded high-capacity magazines and firearm build kits. Five ballistic vests and a ballistic helmet were found during the operation.

All seven face felony charges.

Mid-City Division Lt. Tyler Doherty told NBC 7 San Diego that multiple suspects had firearms, including assault rifles, and that some were building them from kits.

How the investigation started

The case began in December 2025, according to Lt. Doherty. Detectives initiated the probe by going online and offering to purchase a recreational amount of cocaine from one of the suspects' Instagram accounts, which led to that suspect's arrest and opened the door to the broader network.

Doherty said investigators did not identify a specific customer base but noted that the suspects' ages, their use of online platforms and their operation in the college area made young people the likely target demographic.

While the SDPD news release described the investigation as concluded in June 2026, Doherty told NBC 7 that investigators "are not done looking," suggesting the broader case may still be active.

One of the seven suspects arrested had posted a threat to migrants on social media, including a photo of himself looking through a rifle scope pointed toward a Home Depot, according to NBC 7's reporting.

Multi-agency effort

The operation involved the San Diego District Attorney's Office Narcotics Division, SDPD's Criminal Intelligence Unit, Narcotics Task Force Team 8, the Mid-City Crime Suppression Team, Mid-City patrol officers and the Central Division Downtown Response Team.

SDPD has not released the names of the seven suspects. The department's news release listed Lt. Doherty as the media contact for the case.

Anyone with information about narcotics activity in the La Jolla or Pacific Beach area can contact the SDPD's non-emergency line at 619-531-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.