SHORT TAKES : 37,750 Counterfeit Tapes Found

Nearly 38,000 counterfeit audio cassette tapes were found and four suspects were arrested Thursday in East Los Angeles, authorities said.

The tapes and four suspects were found about 6 p.m. in a garage behind the house at 3709 E. Fourth St., Sheriff’s Deputy Van Mosley said.

Deputies had a warrant for one of the suspects, Ysidro Flores, 39, and received an anonymous tip that he was at the house, Mosley said.

Two other men and a woman were found with Flores in the garage, along with 37,750 counterfeit tapes with a combined value of more than $278,000, Mosley said.

An official from the Assn. of Latin American Record Manufacturers helped deputies confirm that the tapes were counterfeit copies of works by Latin and U.S. artists, Mosley said.

Besides Flores, deputies arrested Isaias Cano, 27; Refindo Reyes, 26, and Juana Perez, 26. All four were booked for possession of counterfeit tapes and were being held at the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station on $5,000 bail each, Mosley said.