Operation Royal Flush resulted in the arrest of 77 people in South Valley

HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) — Armed with 52 search warrants and an effort to make Kings County safer, the Sheriff’s Office teamed up with more than a dozen agencies from across the state for Operation Royal Flush.

This joint operation began in September. To date, 52 searches have been conducted, 77 people have been detained, and 32 firearms have been seized.

Three murders in Avenal, Kettleman City and Corcoran that occurred back in 2021 were also solved.

Authorities say one of the homicide victims was a bystander killed in a random act of gang violence.

In April 2021, law enforcement reported that 29-year-old Jonathan Sanchez was shot near Fifth Street and General Petroleum in Kettleman City, and four people have now been charged with his murder.

More than two years later, in October 2023, Juan Carlos Alonso, who was in a wheelchair, was shot and killed in Avenal.

Literally a day before the press conference, the Sheriff’s Office released sketches of the two suspects in the case.

Both were arrested Thursday morning for the murder, although their names have not been released.

A total of ten people, including eight juveniles, have been charged in the case, all facing murder, weapons and gang charges.

District Attorney Sarah Hacker said they are not surprised by how many minors are involved in gangs, but there is one aspect that shocked them.

“What’s surprising is that there are a large number of juveniles on the streets with ghost or non-production weapons who are openly trading those weapons with other gang members,” Hacker said.

The last murder occurred in December 2023. Charles Van Wolfgang Black, 31, was shot and killed in Corcoran at Whitley and Josephine avenues.

To this day, there is a memorial at the corner of the intersection. The case comes to justice Thursday, with three people facing murder, weapons and gang charges in connection with his death.

Two of them are already in prison on other charges. The third was on parole.

“Many of the people involved were people with prior felony convictions, including the Corcoran murder suspects. All three were sent to jail and all three had prior gun possession charges,” Hacker said.

The hacker and the sheriff’s office hope the operation will be a major deterrent to gun and drug trafficking.

The hackers said they would be able to keep most of the suspects in jail until trial because the charges are serious.

She also said that passing Article 36 would allow them to hand down harsher sentences.

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