Oakland police say a year-long investigation yielded dozens of weapons and multiple arrests early Thursday morning.

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said the department is cracking down on drugs and illegal firearms in the city.

“We have at this time over four-dozen firearms that have been confiscated as part of this operation and we are not done,” she said.

Multiple search warrants and arrest warrants were served in connection to the joint investigation spearhead by the ATF with the help of the DEA and Oakland police.

“This morning’s very large operation is not done,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are focused on firearms and narcotics trafficking such as the supplier, and sales, which includes fully automatic high powered rifles and high capacity magazines.”

OPD’s ceasefire crime reduction strategy played a key role in the investigation led by Captain Ersie Joyner.

“We have made multiple arrests and these individuals are being processed through the federal system,” Joyner said.

Since the investigation is ongoing, investigators can’t confirm the number of arrests, but Kirkpatrick said new technology helped them connect some of the confiscated weapons to violent crimes in the community.

“Through our ATF National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, which we call NIBIN [we can] link shell casings to actual crime guns,” she said. “And in this particular operation, we have already linked several of these guns to murders and shooting in our city.”

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