4 Arrested, Big Heroin Cache Seized : Drugs: Officers confiscate 6 pounds of heroin with an estimated value of $5 million on the street, plus five vehicles and $35,000 in cash.

Four men suspected of operating a major drug ring in Orange County have been arrested and 6 pounds of heroin with an estimated street value of $5 million seized, authorities said Thursday.

“This is the biggest heroin seizure we’ve made in a couple of years,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Al Coutts said. “This should cut into the supply of the drug on the street in the county.”

The arrests, which occurred in early morning searches Tuesday at six locations throughout the county, capped a three-week investigation by the Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Program.

Also confiscated during the raids were five vehicles and $35,000 in cash.

“These guys were pretty sophisticated operators,” Coutts said. “They are quite a bit further along on the food chain than your average dime bag dealers.”

Arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin for sale and conspiracy were: Luis Alfonso Orozco, Remigio Jimenez Valencia, Jose Juis Barajas Padilla and Daniel Guerrero Pineda.

All the suspects, who are Mexican nationals, were being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $1-million bail, except Valencia, whose bail was set at $200,000.

In a era when narcotics officers routinely make 100-pound cocaine busts throughout the county, the 6 pounds of black tar heroin is still a “very significant quantity” to seize, Coutts said. The heroin translates into nearly half a million injections on the street.

The seizure should have a “great deal of an effect” on the availability of the drug in the county, at least for a while, Coutts said.

“Heroin addicts will be scurrying around to find another source,” he said. “But I’m sure there are other entrepreneurs out there that will pick up the slack.”

Investigators believe that the suspects operated a highly organized processing and distributing network. At one of the houses searched, police found 2 pounds of heroin, various chemicals, blenders, scales and plastic bags used to dilute, mix, weigh and package the drug into individual doses.

Four pounds of heroin were seized in a public storage locker in Westminster, hidden in the left rear wheel-well of a 1989 Chevrolet pickup truck. The truck was also seized, along with a 1989 240SX Nissan, a 1989 Ford Mustang and a 1983 and a 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

The suspects, investigators said, fit the typical profile of major drug traffickers. While under surveillance, they were seen arranging clandestine meetings, spending large amounts of cash and constantly driving around the county making phone calls at numerous public telephones.

Officials, who say the investigation is continuing, declined to comment on information that led to the investigation or how they suspect the drugs came into the country.

The last significant heroin bust in the county occurred in February of 1988, when officers with the program confiscated 18 pounds of heroin and more than $5.2 million in cash in what was the largest seizure of money in a California drug raid.

The Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Program is a task force composed of 26 federal, state and local agencies.