Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : AT THE SCENE : Cocaine Raids Seen Illustrating Increasing Influx of Drugs

First, drug agents raided homes in Fullerton, Placentia and Anaheim and came away with nearly a ton of high-grade cocaine, $730,000 in cash and 11 South Americans in handcuffs.

Then, five days later, they raided five more locations. At two locations, in El Toro and Laguna Hills, agents seized 400 pounds of cocaine, $2 million in cash and two more South Americans.

The operations apparently were not related, agents said. They did indicate, however, that Orange County has become a major cocaine smuggling depot rivaling Miami.

“Where it’s moving and shaking is Orange County, obviously,” said Mark H. Bonner, a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who in 1984 helped dismantle the then-largest cocaine ring on the West Coast.

“There’s money in Orange County,” he said. “Cocaine is expensive, and the people down there are the ones who want it and can afford it.”

He recalled when a seizure of nine pounds of cocaine “was really big . . . and that was only back in 1978. It really shows how much (cocaine trafficking) has grown.”

He said that Miami has become saturated with drug traffic, especially cocaine, “but they are doing more business here now.”