Police Arrest 12, Seize Drugs in Separate Raids

Police seized cocaine valued at more than $55 million and arrested 12 people during separate undercover drug operations in Anaheim and Costa Mesa this week, authorities said.

Los Angeles police seized 327 pounds of cocaine, $529,871 in cash, a 1981 Nissan pickup truck and a 1981 Buick sedan at a residence in Anaheim Thursday, Los Angeles Police Lt. J.R. Schiller said Friday. The arrests were part of an undercover operation with U.S. Customs officials and La Habra police, Schiller said.

Arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotics for sale were: Diego Arcia, 25; Carlos Yusty, 30; Carlos Gomez, 26; Claudia Prieto, 23, and Dario San Clemente, 26. Schiller said officers did not know where the suspects lived. All were being held at Los Angeles Police Department’s Parker Center Jail in lieu of $2-million bail each.

In a separate case, Costa Mesa police on Wednesday confiscated nearly 7 pounds of cocaine and more than 25 pounds of marijuana with an estimated value of $2.75 million, and arrested seven people, police said. The arrests, the result of a monthlong undercover investigation, took place at various locations, police said.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Tom Boylan identified the suspects as Emery Lee Marchant, 57, of Lake Forest; Larry Dean Bame, 31, of Garden Grove; Andrew Surina, 52, and his wife, Cindy Leanne, 34, of Westlake Village; Dennis Brian O’Malley, 38, of Lakewood; Gerardo C. Huerta, 26, of San Diego, and Cynthia Lee West, 53, of Laguna Niguel.

All were arrested on suspicion of possession of narcotics for sale and were held Friday in the Costa Mesa City Jail in lieu of $1-million bail each.