LOCAL : 3 Arrested in Cocaine Sting
Three men were arrested and more than $227,000 in cash was seized in Valencia when the suspects bought cocaine from undercover investigators, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said today.
Deputies arrested William Robert Work, 52, of Bellingham, Wash.; Kevin Barchiesi, a 35-year-old transient, and Samuel Vaisfeld, 23, of Chatsworth on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale, Deputy Rafael Estrada said.
The three men were arrested at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after meeting with undercover deputies in a restaurant parking lot on the Magic Mountain Parkway, just off the Golden State Freeway, Estrada said.
The arrests came after a weeklong investigation by undercover deputies, who arranged to sell 13 kilograms of cocaine to the three men, Estrada said.
The three men brought $227,000 in cash with them to the parking lot meeting and were arrested when they exchanged the money for cocaine, Estrada said. The drugs sold by the deputies had previously been evidence in an unrelated narcotics case.
After the arrests, the deputies found a loaded handgun in Work’s car, Estrada said. The three men are being held in lieu of $1 million bail apiece at the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley station jail.
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