Colombian Man to Face Charges in Cocaine Seizure

A Colombian national is scheduled to be arraigned today in connection with the seizure in Newhall of more than 100 pounds of cocaine estimated by authorities to be worth $15 million.

Julian Alberto Zuluaga, 29, of Burbank is expected to answer charges in Los Angeles Municipal Court of possession and transportation of cocaine for sale stemming from the arrest Monday night. Investigators have described it as one of the largest cocaine seizures in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Zuluaga was arrested after undercover investigators from the West Covina Police Department watched him load three large bags into his car in the 24300 block of San Fernando Road in Newhall about 9:30 p.m., Detective Marc Taylor said. The bags were found to contain cocaine, Taylor said.

Taylor said police officers had followed Zuluaga to Newhall from a house in Buena Park, which had been staked out as part of an investigation into drug trafficking in West Covina. Taylor refused to say what led detectives to the house.

Zuluaga, described as a middleman in a larger drug operation, apparently stashed the cocaine at a Newhall business where he worked, Taylor said. He would not describe the nature of the business, saying police do not suspect it is involved in the drug operation.

Officers arrested Zuluaga without incident, capping several months of investigation by West Covina police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Taylor said. Zuluaga is being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $5-million bail.

Taylor said he did not expect any additional arrests to be made in the near future because news of the seizure undoubtedly would cause others in the operation to scatter.

Narcotics investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Monday’s seizure could be the second-largest in the Santa Clarita Valley. A joint operation between the Sheriff’s Department and the FBI netted 682 pounds of cocaine in 1988.