U.S. Handed Drug Suspects
Two Simi Valley men were turned over to U.S. authorities in Los Angeles on Tuesday for prosecution on federal drug and weapons charges after a drug raid Sunday yielded $750,000 worth of cocaine, 125 guns, 100 bladed weapons and at least $500,000 in cash, Ventura police said.
Agents for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived at the Ventura County Jail early Tuesday afternoon and transferred Gardner Ernest Flockhart, 31, and Robert Dale Lloyd, 27, to a federal holding facility in Los Angeles, said Sgt. Steve Bowman, supervisor of the Ventura police narcotics division.
The two were arrested Sunday after the raid on Flockhart’s house in the 1400 block of Hartley Avenue, capping a six-month investigation by local law enforcement agencies of a suspected cocaine-distribution ring in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Also arrested were Christine Lynn Helenick, 28; Brian Howard Mudge, 27; and Sharon Lloyd, 32.
Flockhart and Robert Lloyd probably will be charged with possession of machine guns and narcotics trafficking, Bowman said. The other three, who are free on $10,000 bond, face possible charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Sharon Lloyd may also face a charge of possessing cocaine for sale, Bowman said.
Prosecutors at the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles could not be reached for comment.
In addition to the drugs, guns and money, police seized the house, two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, a 1976 Datsun 260Z, a 1990 Jeep Wrangler, a 1989 Kawasaki JetSki and a school bus that had been converted into a camper, Bowman said.
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