Glendale Police Make a Record Drug Buy; 3 Held

Glendale police arrested three people and seized 37 pounds of cocaine last week after a two-day investigation that led to Hollywood, where undercover officers made the largest drug purchase in the department’s history.

Roger Boulos, 32, of Woodland Hills and Joel Sarlot, 30, of Los Angeles were arrested on the corner of Highland Avenue and Sunset Boulevard late Wednesday after selling 35 pounds of cocaine to police for an undisclosed amount of cash, Sgt. Dean Durand said.

Early Thursday, police arrested Michelle Waites, 25, while serving a search warrant at the Woodland Hills home she shared with Boulos, Durand said.

Police confiscated an additional two ounces of cocaine there and two pounds while serving a search warrant at Sarlot’s home in Hollywood, Durand said.

Boulos and Sarlot were both charged with felony possession and sale of cocaine and were being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

Waites was charged with felony possession of cocaine and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The 37 pounds of cocaine was estimated to have a street value of $700,000, Durand said.

Although past investigations have yielded cocaine caches of as much as 800 pounds, Glendale police had never before taken so much in a hand-to-hand sale.

“Normally when you get a seizure of that size it is through a search warrant,” Durand said.