San Diego
In what officials called the largest seizure of drugs in San Diego in almost two years, three men were arraigned by a federal magistrate on charges of conspiring to import 1,600 pounds of marijuana after agents arrested the men and seized the illegal drugs on their pleasure boat Sunday.
Herbert Rudloff, 36; Jose Baraja, 35, and Jesus Cortez, 36, face a minimum of five years in prison if convicted on charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance. Rudloff and Baraja were arrested Sunday night aboard a 27-foot pleasure boat on San Diego Bay when Coast Guard officials discovered 61 bales of marijuana during a routine vessel check.
Officials of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said the seizure was the largest in San Diego since January, 1985.
Cortez was arrested later Sunday in Chula Vista after it was discovered that he co-owns the vessel with Rudloff, said Ron D’Luisse, DEA spokesman.
Rudloff, who listed his residence as San Diego with DEA officials, is scheduled for a detention hearing Friday along with Baraja, whom the DEA lists as a Mexican national.
The two are being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown without bail.
Cortez, a Chula Vista resident, was expected to make $100,000 personal security bail Monday night, court officials said.
A preliminary hearing for the three men is set for Dec. 18.
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