Gardena police announced Tuesday what they say is the largest seizure of illegal fireworks in recent California history, after seizing more than 75 tons of illegal fireworks from a warehouse in Gardena last weekend.
Units from the department’s Special Investigations Unit swarmed a commercial warehouse located in the 17000 block of Vermont Avenue on Friday, where they found a warehouse filled to the brim with fireworks, according to a statement from the Gardena Police Department.
The recovered fireworks are estimated to have a street value of between $7 million and $10 million, investigators say.
Video released by the department shows hundreds of boxes of fireworks after they were removed from storage.
In addition, three people were arrested in connection with the discovery. They were identified as Wilmington residents Alejandro Rodriguez, 44, and Daniel Gudino, 25, and Carson resident Natalie Navarro, 30.
They were all arrested on suspicion of possession of explosives and various weapons offenses, police said.
Police say the 75 tons is more than double the previous largest total recovered during an arrest, which was about 32 tons from a South LA warehouse in 2021.
Anyone with more information is asked to contact investigators at (310) 217-6193.
