County, state and federal agencies combined forces to track down criminal sex trade, gambling and drug operations on Oahu in “Operation Firestorm,” culminating in pre-dawn raids Wednesday that turned up 38 electronic gambling devices and illegal narcotics, with three arrested.

The law enforcement surge included welfare checks on massage and spa workers in storefronts on Oahu’s leeward side, said Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan — and it’s just the first. Oahu’s drug and gambling houses are a nexus for criminal activity and violence; cooperative work to ferret out and shut down the dens is both necessary and welcome.