Cocaine Raid Finds Bundles in Hall Closet

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents seized nearly $15 million worth of cocaine from the Canyon Country home of two Colombian nationals, authorities reported Thursday.

The 578 pounds of plastic- and gauze-wrapped cocaine was found in a locked hallway closet of a modest two-story home in a middle-class neighborhood, authorities said. Also seized was $45,100 in cash.

“The bundles took up every inch of floor space in the closet,” said a deputy, who did not wish to be identified. “It’s the biggest drug haul north of the L.A. city line in history.”

Arrested at the home on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale were Oscar Gomez Londono, 56, and Patricia Beltran Ossa, 27, deputies said. Both suspects are from Colombia but may have lived in Miami before buying the home in the 27400 block of Allenwick Avenue and moving in last November, they added.

Armed With Warrant

Deputies released few details but said the pair had been under investigation for a month. The deputies obtained a search warrant, which was used to enter the house at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Deputy Richard Dinsmoor said the $15-million value placed on the drugs was a “very conservative” estimate.

Deputies of the narcotics unit of the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley station said they believe the house was likely a distribution point, with the cocaine sold within a 50- to 100-mile radius to smaller drug operatives. No other arrests are expected, although the investigation is continuing.

The haul reflects the fact that smugglers of Colombian cocaine are increasingly using the West Coast to move their drugs because of law-enforcement pressure in more traditional smuggling routes such as south Florida, said one member of the narcotics team.

“The heat is coming down pretty heavy on them on the East Coast,” he said. “The Colombians are bringing more and more of it this way. This seizure is no doubt a result of that.”