3 Arrested in Drug Sting in Valencia

Three men who bought cocaine from undercover officers in Valencia have been arrested and more than $227,000 in cash has been seized, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday.

Deputies arrested Samuel Vaisfeld, 23, of Chatsworth, William Robert Work, 52, of Bellingham, Wash., and Kevin Barchiesi, a 35-year-old transient, on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale, Deputy Roger Hom said.

The three were arrested at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday after meeting with undercover deputies in a restaurant parking lot on Magic Mountain Parkway, just off the Golden State Freeway, Deputy Rafael Estrada said.

The arrests came after a weeklong investigation by sheriff’s deputies, who had met earlier with the suspects after learning that they were seeking to buy cocaine, deputies said. The deputies arranged to sell 13 kilograms of cocaine to the suspects at the restaurant parking lot.

The suspects brought $227,000 in cash with them to the parking lot and were arrested after they exchanged the money for cocaine, Estrada said. Because the drugs at that point belonged to the suspects, they can be charged with possession, he said.

The cocaine sold by the deputies had been part of the evidence in an unrelated narcotics case that had been concluded, Estrada said.

After the arrests, the deputies found a loaded handgun in Work’s car, Estrada said. The men were held Thursday in lieu of $1 million bail each at the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley station jail.