Cash, Cocaine Seized in Major Bust; 11 Arrested

Los Angeles police arrested 11 Colombians, seized almost 1,200 pounds of cocaine and recovered more than $100,000 in cash in one of the largest drug busts in the history of Los Angeles County law enforcement, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates announced Tuesday.

The arrests were followed by an unrelated raid during which two men were taken into custody and more than 200 marijuana plants were confiscated at what investigators described as a sophisticated, hydroponic farming operation at a luxury home in San Dimas, according to sheriff’s deputies.

Gates said the suspects in the cocaine case were “top-level people” in the distribution of drugs shipped into the Los Angeles area from overseas, probably through Mexico. He said a major share of the cocaine confiscated probably had been destined for transshipment to other cities across the United States.

Gates said the cocaine arrests late Monday ended a two-month investigation by narcotics officers that began as the result of information received by detectives. He did not explain how this information was received.

On Monday, the chief said, undercover officers followed Claudio Martinez, 26, to a shopping center in Westminster in Orange County, where he met with Luis Monsalve, 22, and Juan Casanova, 34. Officers said they moved in and arrested the three, confiscating about 950 pounds of cocaine from a van driven by Martinez.

After those arrests, Gates said, search warrants were issued for residences in Burbank, Los Angeles, Pico Rivera, Westminster, Huntington Beach and Torrance. The chief said another 220 pounds of cocaine was found at a home in Westminster, and $102,895 in $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills was discovered at a home in Torrance. Eight motor vehicles were impounded.

Flor Restrepo, 30, and her sister, Luz Restrepo, 33--described by Gates as the leaders of the gang--were arrested at an apartment in the Cahuenga Pass area, along with Carlos Montoya, 32, and a 16-year-old girl.

Faber Restrepo, 26, was arrested at an apartment in Burbank and Olga Garcia, 32, was arrested at a home in Huntington Beach. Arolino Montoya, 37, was arrested at an apartment in Pico Rivera and Janeth Garcia, 30, was arrested as she drove away from her home in Westminster.

$1.5-Million Bail

All the suspects were booked on suspicion of possession of cocaine with intent to sell. Bail for each was set at $1.5 million.

Gates said no further arrests were expected in the case.

Sheriff’s Deputy George Ducoulombier said officers from the state Bureau of Narcotics, the federal Drug Enforcement Adminstration and a task force of 11 San Gabriel Valley police agencies joined deputies Tuesday morning to raid the $2-million hilltop home in San Dimas where the marijuana was being grown without soil in tanks containing nutrient-enriched water.

Ducoulombier said that, in addition to the marijuana plants, some of which were 5 to 6 feet tall, officers confiscated $350,000 in cash and more than 60 pistols, rifles and shotguns.

Rollin Scott Forteville, 38, and Jeff Jenkins, 26, were arrested at the home and booked on suspicion of marijuana cultivation. Bail for each was set at $1 million.

The cocaine seizure by Los Angeles police apparently was the sixth largest by the department or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Record Cocaine Seizure

In August, 1987, Los Angeles police confiscated 2,135 pounds of the drug at two locations in the San Fernando Valley in what is believed to be the record drug bust in the area. It came just five months after the Police Department had seized 1,900 pounds in another raid in Los Angeles.

About 1,800 pounds of the drug was seized in Anaheim by Los Angeles police in April, 1986, and 1,760 pounds of cocaine was confiscated by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in a home in Maywood in November, 1987. Los Angeles police recovered 1,333 pounds of cocaine in a North Hollywood parking lot in December, 1986.