44 Pounds of Cocaine, Cash, 5 Suspects Seized

Police and federal agents seized 44 pounds of cocaine and an athletic bag filled with $180,000 in cash during a nighttime raid in the San Fernando Valley.

Four men and a 15-year-old girl, believed to be Colombian citizens, were arrested Wednesday night and early Thursday in Reseda on suspicion of cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. The men were held on $1-million bail at the Torrance Police Department, while the girl was in custody at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.

Authorities believe the cocaine, valued at more than $1 million, is part of a much larger shipment, Torrance Police Lt. Dave Marsden said.

“These are professional international drug traffickers we are talking about,” Marsden said. “There is a mother lode out there in the Valley, and that is what we are trying to get our hands on.”

Trail Led to Reseda

Torrance investigators developed the case, which led detectives to a house in Reseda, Marsden said, and they and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration watched the residence Wednesday night. Police did not disclose the exact location.

Officers followed a sedan driven away from the home about midnight, he said, and the driver, George Ramirez, 22, apparently realizing he was being tailed, stopped the car and walked away with the 15-year-old passenger. The pair were arrested after a search of the car revealed the 44 pounds of cocaine, police said. Detectives then searched the house, finding the cash and several guns.

Arrested at the home were Henry Armando Hernandez, 44, Ivan Dario Ferrer, 32, and Carlos Alberto Sosa, 30.