PHOENIX — Phoenix police arrested eight people in "The Zone" Tuesday morning after executing multiple search warrants in the widespread homeless encampment.
The department said most of the people arrested are accused of transporting drugs with the intent to sell.
Phoenix police said the search warrants, in the area of 9th Avenue and Madison Street, were the result of a month-long investigation into the recent spike in violence and drug overdoses in the encampment.
The crackdown comes just two weeks before the city will begin its court-ordered disbanding of 'The Zone.'
A Superior Court judge gave Phoenix until July 10 to clean up and remove the residents.
"The Zone" is an at least seven-block-long, five-block-wide homeless encampment located just west of downtown. As many as 1,000 people live there at any one time.
City leaders say teams with the office of homeless solutions will be going block-by-block to relocate individuals living by the sidewalks, then clean the area.
A big part of the forced removal includes offering everyone services and resources, which new Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington says 60% of people accept, according to the city's data.
"The goal is that we won't allow the encampment to become as widespread as we see in The Zone," said Hodge Washington. "I would say it becomes a little easier to address those issues and try to work towards solving it. It's not allowing them to stay."
