4 Arrested in Raid by Cargo Theft Task Force

A multiagency task force of law officers caught four suspected thieves Thursday morning as they unloaded $74,000 worth of stereo speakers from a stolen cargo trailer at a North Hollywood warehouse, authorities said.

The Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, made up of officers from the California Highway Patrol, FBI, Los Angeles Port Police, Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, raided the warehouse in the 13100 block of Sherman Way at 1:30 a.m. and made the arrests without incident, Sheriff’s Deputy Pat Hunter said.

Erik Ben Bachsiam, 46, of Tarzana, who leased the warehouse, and Gilbert Ventura Tinker, 59, Carlos Navarette, 50, and Ramon Marcos Arellano, 26, all of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft, Hunter said.

The cargo trailer containing the speakers had been stolen Monday night in City of Industry, Hunter said. It was seen by sheriff’s deputies Wednesday evening parked on Peck Road near the Pomona Freeway. The task force, which was formed earlier this year to combat thefts of shipping and trucking cargo, placed the trailer under surveillance.

Hunter said that late Wednesday the officers watched as the suspects arrived and hooked a tractor to the trailer. It was driven to the North Hollywood warehouse, and the arrests were made as the truck was being unloaded.

In the warehouse, officers also found 45 filing cabinets that had been stolen three weeks ago in Santa Fe Springs, Hunter said. The suspects were being held at the sheriff’s station in Carson on a bond of $1,500 each.