More than 20 alleged drug dealers were picked off the Cambridge streets yesterday as part of Operation Streetsweep, said Cambridge Police Lt. Timothy F. McCusker.

The arrests were part of an ongoing project directed by the Cambridge Police Department and assisted by police forces from Chelsea, Malden, Somerville, Boston University, the Massachessetts Bay Transit Authority, and Harvard, McCusker said.

Harvard Police officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Street Level

Boston University officer Steven Giacoppo said he is almost positive that neither Harvard nor Boston University students were involved. A full police report was not available at press time.

"From what I understand it was all street level," Giacoppo said.

The bust followed a three-month undercover investigation of suspected cocaine dealers, Cambridge Police Lt. Richard Bongiorno told The Associated Press. Bongiorno said that the arrests began over the weekend and would continue over the next few days.

McCusker said that warrants have been issued for at least 30 suspected drug dealers. Yesterday morning, several teams, each made up of seven officers, were sent into the field to retrieve more suspects.

20 Suspects

The police began making arrests at 5:30 a.m. yesterday. By early afternoon, McCusker said, more than 20 suspects had been arrested and fingerprinted at the National Guard Armory in Cambridge. The suspects' names were not available yesterday.

McCusker said that the operation was part of "a progressive effort to clean up the city."

Suspects were arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Bongiorno told the Associated Press.