7 Men Plead Not Guilty in Record Cocaine Bust
Seven men arrested in connection with the record 21.4-ton cocaine seizure in a raid of a Sylmar warehouse pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to an indictment charging them with conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.
Judge Terry J. Hatter scheduled a tentative trial date for March 27 for the suspects, named in the indictment as Carlos Tapia Ponce, Hector Tapia Anchondo, James Romero McTague, Jose Ignacio Mauricio Monroy-Iniguez, Hugo Fernando Castillon-Alvarez, Miguel Chavez and Gilbert Mendoza.
The men were arrested shortly after Drug Enforcement Administration agents and police officers seized the cocaine--the largest amount ever netted--during a raid of the warehouse on Sept. 29. All are in federal custody.
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