Cocaine Found in Alleged Dealer’s Van Nuys Home : Arrest Leads to $20-Million Drug Cache

A drug dealer arrested Wednesday in the Winnetka area led police to his home in Van Nuys where they seized about 70 pounds of cocaine with a street value in excess of $20 million, Los Angeles police said.

Lt. E. A. Shiller of the Police Department’s major violators section said detectives arrested Enrique Espinoza, 29, after a two-week undercover investigation during which he was closely watched at all times.

Shiller said Espinoza, who allegedly has used several aliases, is being held at the police headquarters jail in downtown Los Angeles in lieu of $2 million bail.

After police arrested Espinoza at the intersection of Winnetka Avenue and Sherman Way at 12:30 p.m., they found about $13,000 in cash in the car he was driving, Shiller said.

Investigators, using a search warrant, then entered Espinoza’s home in the 5300 block of Sepulveda Boulevard, where they found the cocaine and assorted drug paraphernalia, he said. The material included plastic bags to store the narcotics and large bowls that were used to crush the drug from rock form to powder, Shiller said.

The drug haul was not a record for Los Angeles police, but Espinoza “fits the profile of a big-time narcotics dealer,” Shiller said.

Police said that the arrest and confiscation of the drugs will have a significant, although only temporary, effect on cocaine trade in the San Fernando Valley.

The cocaine found at Espinoza’s home was 70% pure, while cocaine usually sold on the street is about 40%, Shiller said.

No arraignment date has not been set.