Local News in Brief : 5 Held, 976 Pounds of Cocaine Seized
Narcotics investigators seized 976.8 pounds of cocaine at two locations in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said Tuesday.
Flanked by representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs Service and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Gates said detectives arrested five suspects in addition to seizing the cocaine.
Investigators followed a van early Tuesday to a shopping center at Topanga and Ventura boulevards, where the driver parked, Gates said. Detectives arrested the driver, Myron Keene, 47, of New York City, and recovered more than 961 pounds of cocaine from the van, Gates said. Officers also seized another seven kilos of cocaine from a vehicle parked in the 5100 block of Llanos Drive and arrested Miguel A. Libutti, 42, an Argentine national, and Adolfo Estrada, 32, Lorenia Valasqo, 19, and Nellie Alvarez, 46, all Colombian nationals, Gates said.
The suspects were booked on charges of transporting cocaine for sale and distribution. No bail was set.
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