5 Arrested, 400 Pounds of Cocaine Seized in Raid

A 4-month undercover investigation resulted in the arrests of 5 people and the seizure of about 400 pounds of cocaine in Mission Hills on Monday, police said.

Detective Carl Greco of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Narcotics Division said that information from an earlier investigation in Chino led to the arrests.

Alvaro Canabal, 28, and Orlando Fernandez, 25, both Colombian nationals; and Mario Billapua, 27, his wife, Maria Billapua, 27, and Jamie Bastidas, 41, all Mexican nationals, were arrested on suspicion of transporting cocaine for sale and distribution, Greco said.

The four men were being held in the downtown Parker Center jail, while Maria Billapua was being held at Sybil Brand Institute for Women in East Los Angeles, Greco said. Bail was set at $1 million for each.

The cocaine seized has a street value of about $68 million, Greco said.

The arrests were made after undercover officers observed Canabal and Fernandez loading a van, in the driveway of a house in the 10600 block of Orion Avenue, with what they believed to be cocaine, said Lt. J.R. Schiller of the Narcotics Division. The officers followed the van to a supermarket at the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Devonshire Street where they watched the two men conduct a narcotics transaction, Schiller said.

The men were arrested, and about 340 pounds of cocaine was found inside the van, he said.

Authorities then returned to the house, where the others were arrested, Schiller said.

Police seized an additional 60 pounds of cocaine, two assault rifles, two handguns and about $18,000 in cash at the house, he said.

The investigation in Chino resulted in the arrests of 6 people and the seizure of about 600 pounds of cocaine in July, Greco said.