2 Tons of Marijuana, $1.5 Million in Cash Seized : Drugs: Authorities believe that with the raid in Palmdale, they broke the back of a new drug ring that had imported its first load of Philippine- grown marijuana.

Federal drug agents and local authorities have seized two tons of Philippine-grown marijuana and $1.5 million in cash, halting the test run for a major Manila-to-Los Angeles drug smuggling operation that had been under way for less than a month, officials said Friday.

The marijuana, seized Thursday at a warehouse in Palmdale, was purchased in Manila for about $40,000 and could have been sold on U. S. streets for an estimated $14 million, said Ralph B. Lochridge, spokesman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles. The cash, apparently obtained from marijuana sales earlier in the week, was seized in a room at the Dufy Hotel in West Hollywood, he said.

Arrested Thursday at the warehouse were three men who were arraigned Friday in federal District Court on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, Lochridge said. They were ordered held without bail until a hearing Tuesday, he said.

“This is a significant bust,” Lochridge said. “It appeared to be a well-oiled, well-run, sophisticated operation.”

The marijuana was carefully sealed in heavy-duty plastic bags wrapped in aluminum foil in an effort to throw off drug-sniffing dogs, Lochridge said. It was packed in 23 crates hidden among 164 pieces of rattan furniture that one of the suspects intended to sell through a legitimate business, Beverly Hills-based Budji Corp., Lochridge said.

“This is what we believe to be a first attempt,” he said. “It was a two-ton sample to test out the market.”

The DEA began investigating the operation after learning that a ship loaded with the marijuana was scheduled to leave Manila for Los Angeles on Oct. 6, Lochridge said. When the ship arrived at Long Beach Harbor on Oct. 16, DEA agents and investigators from the Los Angeles and Orange County sheriff’s departments, the Compton Police Department and the U. S. Customs Service tracked the suspects until they were arrested about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, he said.

The men allegedly used a rented truck to take the marijuana from a storage area in South Gate to Palmdale, he said. They apparently planned to set up a network of warehouses from which they would distribute the drug to middlemen, he said.

Arrested were Jay William Rosser, 34, of Mission Hills; Virgilio Cancio Layug, 38, a Manila-born Los Angeles man who told authorities that he is a U. S. citizen, and John Laperal Nassr, 39, a Philippine citizen living in Manila, Lochridge said.

Authorities were looking for a fourth suspect, Ptol Estrada, whose age and citizenship had not been determined, officials said. He is believed to be hiding in the United States, Lochridge said.