Reverse Sting Leads to 6 Cocaine Arrests

A reverse sting operation run out of two San Clemente hotels and involving 220 pounds of cocaine and $789,399 in cash has led to the arrest of six people, the San Diego office of the Drug Enforcement Administration said Friday.

A DEA spokesman said the agency hopes the arrests will put an end to a cocaine distribution ring with links to Northern California, Oklahoma and Colorado that the DEA believes has sold more than a ton of cocaine in the last year and a half.

The arrests were made Monday and Tuesday, but weren’t announced until Friday, in part because more arrests are expected, DEA spokesman Ron D’Ulisse said.

Undercover High-Rollers

Posing as cocaine sellers, rather than buyers, undercover DEA agents began the investigation two months ago, agreeing to sell 220 pounds of cocaine for $1.5 million to a distribution ring allegedly led by Eugene Russell Esposito of Santa Cruz.

The agents met with the buyers several times and passed themselves off as high-rollers, at one time using a San Clemente-area mansion to impress Esposito.

Finally, the DEA agents rented rooms at two San Clemente hotels picked at random to culminate the drug deal.

On Monday night, Esposito and his partner John Brant Sankey arrived at one of the rooms, where DEA agents showed them the cocaine, authorities said.

Esposito and Sankey allegedly agreed to buy the high-grade cocaine, and then telephoned three other associates and told them to make a $789,399 partial payment to DEA agents waiting at the other hotel.

Instead of receiving the cocaine, Esposito and Sankey of Pittsburgh, Pa., were arrested. The three men who handed over the money--Lester Thomas Smith, 26, of Danville; Douglas Harper Berry, 22, and Darrel Jackson, both of Oakland--were arrested after a brief foot chase.

All were arrested for conspiracy to possess cocaine and conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute.

Under the 1986 Drug Abuse Act, all of the suspects face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison because the alleged transaction involved more than 10 kilos (22 pounds) of cocaine. They also face a fine of up to $4 million.

On Tuesday, the DEA arrested Bridgett Johnson, 31, of La Jolla, in connection with the case. She was arrested for conspiracy to possess cocaine.