5,000 Pounds of Cocaine Seized in 2nd Largest Bust

In what authorities described as the second-largest cocaine bust ever in California, police from Anaheim and other agencies seized nearly 5,000 pounds of cocaine and arrested seven on suspicion of drug trafficking over the weekend in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, officials announced Monday.

The investigation began a week ago, according to police and court documents. On Friday night, officers watched alleged drug shipments being parceled from three tractor-trailer trucks in the parking lot of a Baldwin Park hotel, according to police and court documents.

When two of the big rigs left the parking lot of the Howard Johnson’s hotel and restaurant, officers followed and stopped them near Victorville. Searchers found about 1,000 pounds of cocaine packed in cardboard boxes in each truck.

Officers followed other vehicles from the parking lot to houses in Hacienda Heights and Reseda, in Los Angeles County. At one house in Hacienda Heights, officers found more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine, court documents state.

All told, 4,987 pounds of the powdery white drug was seized, according to Anaheim Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy, who described it as the largest confiscation since a world-record 20 tons of cocaine was recovered from a Sylmar warehouse in September.

“They are not going to have a ‘white’ Christmas,” Molloy said of the suspects. “We are.”

Molloy, speaking at a news conference where the plastic-wrapped bricks of cocaine were neatly stacked in the corner, said the street value of the haul was conservatively estimated at $100 million.

While Anaheim detectives developed the information and spearheaded the investigation, Molloy said, his department received assistance from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Huntington Beach police and the California Bureau of Narcotics.

Because the investigation is ongoing, Molloy refused to say how his officers were tipped to the operation or how it relates to Anaheim. He said the case should be wrapped up in about a month.

Three of the suspects were arrested when the two tractor-trailer trucks were stopped near Victorville, according to court documents. They were identified as Eduardo Alvarez, 31, of Chester, N.Y.; Ramon Quintana, 38, of Bergenfield, N.J., and Jose Bermudez Sosa, 42, of Prospect Park, N.J.

Molloy said the drugs were probably destined for the East Coast.

Guillermo Fernandez, 37, of Miami, the owner of the other tractor-trailer truck that remained behind, was also arrested.

The other suspects who are accused of driving vehicles to and from the hotel parking lot are Jair DeJesus Mejia, 29 of Reseda; Hernan Aristizabal, 39, of Miami, and Jose Cabian Rodriguez, 42, of Whittier.

The suspects are being held in federal custody without bail. Magistrate Ronald Rose in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana indicated that he considered the seven defendants dangerous and flight risks. If convicted on charges of transportation and possession of cocaine for sale, they could face maximum penalties of 30 years in prison.

In addition to the cocaine, Molloy said, officers seized $20,000 in cash, which he described as being “pocket change” to major drug traffickers.

As if to underscore the point, another team of law officials announced Monday the seizure of about $2.75 million in alleged drug cash in Los Angeles. The confiscation followed surveillance this month by U.S. Customs agents and a group of police agencies that have pooled their narcotics efforts--the Southeast (Los Angeles) Area Narcotic Enforcement Team, or SEANET.

SEANET, which includes the communities of Huntington Park, Bell, South Gate and Maywood, also played a major role in last September’s record Sylmar cocaine seizure.

Joseph Chares, acting special Customs agent in charge of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, said that he viewed the big cash seizure as having a major impact on the money-laundering activities of Colombian drug dealers who are also under pressure in their own country.

“It’s a pretty good seizure,” he said. “Things have been relatively slow since September in (local) money-laundering seizures due to the upheaval in Colombia.”

The initial tip to SEANET came earlier this month, he said, leading to surveillance of a suspected narcotics-trafficking operation at a Downey apartment house.

That surveillance led authorities to another apartment house, where the $2.75 million was seized last Friday, he said.

Arrested on suspicion of money laundering were: Javier Canasas, 32, of South Gate; Miller Ramirez, 26, of Bell Gardens, and Bernardo Diaz, 40, Adolfo Suarez, 28, Reynaldo Garcia, 45, and Teresa Castano, 19, and her sister, Patricia, 20, all of Downey.

“It’s going to hurt them a little,” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Curtis Hazell, who is assigned to narcotics prosecutions. “But we haven’t smashed any organization. We’ve cut off a finger. Not one of the major fingers. We didn’t get the people who moved the dough.”

Times Staff Writer Ronald Soble in Los Angeles contributed to this story.