4 Arrested After Drug Team Seizes 7 Kilos of Cocaine

Drug enforcement officers on Thursday seized seven kilograms of cocaine and arrested four people, including a Manhattan Beach man they described as a major cocaine trafficker with connections to Colombian cartels.

“This is not one of our largest cases in terms of what was seized, but we’ve certainly got a major dealer here,” said Capt. Tim Grimmond, supervisor of the Westside Narcotics Enforcement Team, known as WESTNET. “Seven kilos with him is a good day’s work, and we’re quite proud to be able to have gotten him.”

Officials identified their primary suspect as Luis E. Chavez, 33, of Manhattan Beach. Arrested with Chavez were his wife, Lisa, 31, and Redondo Beach residents Guillermo H. Rodriguez, 35, and Philip J. Lane, 37. All four were being held at the El Segundo city jail in lieu of $2.5-million bail each.

Grimmond said the arrests capped a four-month joint investigation by officers from WESTNET, the U.S. Customs Service and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service.

The El Segundo Police Department serves as headquarters for WESTNET, a team of officers from seven South Bay police departments, county sheriff’s deputies and Santa Monica, UCLA and Signal Hill police departments.

Grimmond said investigators began preparing to move in for the arrests on Wednesday afternoon, after they had followed Luis Chavez and Rodriguez to a house at 651 S. Irena Ave. in Redondo Beach.

Detectives watched as Lane loaded several boxes into the pair’s car. Officers then followed Chavez and Rodriguez as they drove back toward Chavez’s house at 461 S. Prospect Ave. in Manhattan Beach.

Investigators called in a Manhattan Beach police unit to stop the car about 8 p.m. and then detained the men for nearly five hours while they waited for warrants allowing them to search the vehicle.

Inside the car, detectives found cocaine with an estimated street value of $700,000.

Officers then served search warrants on the two homes, where they seized more than $40,000 in cash, guns, expensive jewelry, two Porsche sports cars, a Mercedes-Benz and a Jeep Cherokee.

The cars, money and the Manhattan Beach house all are subject to forfeiture under state and federal drug enforcement laws, Grimmond said.