$7.3 Million in Cocaine Seized
Deputies raided a Lake Elsinore house and a Bell apartment Thursday morning, seizing 53 pounds of cocaine, worth about $7.3 million on the streets, and arresting two Colombian citizens and three Cuban nationals, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The five in custody were believed to be members of a drug ring selling cocaine in southeast Los Angeles County, Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Garza said.
After a four-month investigation, Los Angeles County deputies, assisted by law officers from other jurisdictions, served search warrants at nine locations in Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties.
Less than four ounces of cocaine was found at the Bell apartment, and officers discovered the 53-pound cocaine cache at the Lake Elsinore house, Garza said.
The two Colombian citizens--identified as Juan Vasquez, 45, and Miriam Ossa, 27--were arrested at the Bell apartment.
The Cubans--Alfred Maldonado, 53; his wife, Sara Maldonado, 55, and Armando Gonzales, 55--were arrested at the house in Lake Elsinore.
Each of the five was being held in lieu of $1-million bail, Garza said.
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