South Gate’s four-legged crime fighter just helped take a staggering cache of meth off the streets, with police reporting that a K-9-assisted operation on March 20 led to the seizure of roughly 500 pounds of crystal meth, a handgun, and other narcotics worth an estimated $1 million or more. The department said it shared the haul’s eye-popping numbers on its official Facebook page the same day.
In a post dated March 20, 2026, the City of South Gate Police Department said the investigation ended with the recovery of approximately 500 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, a handgun, and additional narcotics, with a combined street value estimated at more than $1 million, according to the City of South Gate Police Department. The post singled out Detective Mendez’s K-9 partner, Otis, for assisting officers and said the dog had “protected the community” from dangerous illegal drugs.
How The K-9 Team Fits In
Detective Mendez and Otis, an English Springer Spaniel, have been working together as a narcotics-detection team since 2020, according to the City of South Gate Canine Program. The department notes that its K-9 unit is one of the longest-running in southeast Los Angeles County and says its teams are trained for search and detection work that is intended to help keep officers and nearby neighborhoods safer…