11 arrested in undercover crackdown

An undercover police crackdown on people soliciting work on Costa Mesa street corners netted 11 arrests Friday, police said Saturday.

Ten of the arrestees also were suspected of violating federal immigration laws, according to arrest records.

“We’ve been getting some complaints in the community for a lot of solicitation for work, so we did the operation for that reason,” said Costa Mesa Lt. Bob Cizek.

For the operation, Costa Mesa police officers drove around in an undercover car to street corners in the city in search of people violating a municipal code that prohibits soliciting motorists for work on city streets.

Most of the arrestees were taken into police custody around the area of Elden and Del Mar Avenues and in the 600 block of Victoria Street, according to arrest records.

Costa Mesa closed its city-subsidized day labor center in 2006, after critics complained the center cost taxpayers too much money when private job placement services could serve day laborers.

Others called the closure anti-immigrant — the center mostly served Latino laborers in search of work.