Mexican Man Arrested in Attempted Heroin Sale

A Mexican man was arraigned Thursday on a heroin possession charge after his arrest in Van Nuys for allegedly attempting to sell an undercover drug agent about a pound of the drug worth as much as $2.5 million, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration reported.

Leonel Chavarin, 24, an illegal alien living in North Hollywood, was arrested by federal agents about noon Wednesday in the parking lot of a Denny’s restaurant in the 15500 block of Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys, DEA spokesman Ralph Lochridge said.

Chavarin was arrested while allegedly selling an undercover agent a half kilogram of “tar” heroin, a highly potent form of the drug that is processed in Mexico, authorities said.

“It was a buy-bust,” Lochridge said. “They were negotiating. He claimed to be capable of dealing five kilos.”

Chavarin, who was carrying a loaded .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol under the seat of his car at the time of his arrest, was charged with possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, authorities said.

On Thursday, after being arraigned on the charge before U.S. Magistrate Venetta S. Tassopulos, Chavarin was being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. If convicted of the charge, Chavarin could face a prison sentence ranging from five to 40 years, Lochridge said.

The value of the 1.1 pounds of heroin seized could range from $250,000 to $2.5 million, depending on its purity, Lochridge said. Field tests of the drug indicated it was 80% percent pure, putting the value at the high end of that range, he said.

The arrest followed a one-week investigation. Authorities believe Chavarin had illegally transported the heroin across the Mexican border himself, Lochridge said.

Authorities said the dark-colored tar heroin, though containing impurities because of unsophisticated methods used in processing it, is usually more potent than lighter forms of heroin smuggled from Asia and the market for it in the Los Angeles area is burgeoning.

“It is expanding and expanding,” Lochridge said. “It is made in Mexico and smuggled here and primarily sold to Mexican-Americans.”

On the street level, narcotics experts said, the heroin is packaged in deflated balloons and most often distributed in barrio areas by drug runners who carry the balloons in their mouths, swallowing them to avoid detection if stopped by law officers.