Anaheim Man Accused of Running a Cocaine Manufacturing Plant

A federal grand jury has accused an Anaheim man, the brother of a convicted cocaine dealer, of masterminding a cocaine manufacturing operation on a ranch east of Stockton.

Hernando Serrano was ordered held without bail Friday by the same judge who sentenced his brother, Daniel, to 20 years in prison in April.

Serrano, an executive at Rockwell International Corp., was arrested July 18 in Downey. He is being held at Terminal Island.

The Serrano brothers allegedly planned to set up a cocaine laboratory on a ranch belonging to Henry Baker Turley, officials said. Turley and a third man believed to be involved in the operation, Nelson Guzman, recently pleaded guilty to federal cocaine charges.

Hernando Serrano “personally met with defendants on a number of occasions and discussed the operation of the cocaine ranch,” Assistant U.S. Atty. John Gordon told a federal judge Friday. Gordon provided details of the government’s case against Serrano as a way to protest a motion by Serrano’s attorney to have his client released on bail.

For many Colombian cocaine dealers, posting bail and leaving the country was a “cost of doing business,” Gordon said.

However, Randolph Wright, Serrano’s attorney, said Serrano’s ties to the community made him eligible for bail. He said Serrano, who has lived in the United States for 20 years, recently returned from a trip to Colombia, proving that he was not a flight risk.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson denied the motion for bail.

Gordon said the government’s witnesses will testify that the laboratory was scheduled to process 500 kilograms of cocaine for shipment to Los Angeles in 100-kilogram lots.

But Gordon told Wilson that he did not want to reveal the names of the government’s witnesses because threats had been made against their lives by the defendants. A trial on the charges has been set for Sept. 16.

In the spring of 1985, the Serrano brothers and Guzman purchased a truck, chemicals and equipment to process cocaine, according to an indictment filed July 11 in Los Angeles federal court. In May or June of last year, Hernando Serrano and others met “at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Anaheim to arrange for the transportation of chemicals to Henry Baker Turley’s ranch for use in the manufacturing of cocaine,” according to the indictment.

The cocaine base was delivered to the ranch by Guzman in September, 1985, the indictment said.

In late April, Hernando Serrano appeared at Daniel’s sentencing hearing to ask Judge Wilson for leniency. At that time, Hernando Serrano disputed Gordon’s claim that money from cocaine sales had provided the cash for Daniel Serrano to purchase three southern Orange County luxury homes. Hernando Serrano testified that the funds came from a family cattle business in Colombia.

Soon after Daniel Serrano was indicted, the government filed civil lawsuits to begin seizing the properties. Federal law permits the seizure of property involved in criminal activity.