Colombian Drug Path Leads to Record Seizure : Narcotics: The discovery of 110 pounds of cocaine is the largest find in Conejo Valley history, authorities say.

The seizure of 110 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $5 million outside a Thousand Oaks restaurant this week is the latest example of increased Colombian drug dealing activity in Ventura County, authorities said Friday.

The stash, discovered in the trunk of a car outside Charley Brown’s Restaurant, was the largest cocaine seizure in the history of the Conejo Valley, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Pentis said.

“There’s been a bigger influx of South American narcotics traffickers that have moved into this county,” he said, speaking of the past five years.

Pentis said that information gathered during a four-week investigation alerted detectives to a number of suspected drug dealers operating in both Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Deputies in 15 unmarked police cars trailed suspects to the parking lot of the restaurant Wednesday and arrested them during what was believed to be a drug transaction, Pentis said.

A search of one car revealed the cocaine and an unspecified amount of cash, Pentis said. Five men were arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine for sale, sale of cocaine, and conspiracy to sell cocaine, Pentis said. They were booked into Ventura County Jail and the East Valley Sheriff’s Station and bail was set at $5 million each, Pentis said.

Arrested were Carlos Aldo Santini, 34, a Colombian national; Jose Alfredo Petit, 48, a Cuban national from Florida; Roberto Garcia, 35, a Mexican national; Manuel Montes DeOca, 24, of Puerto Rico, and Alfred Fabian Petit, 24, a Cuban national, authorities said.

Petit, who was also wanted on a felony warrant from Florida, was described in the warrant as armed and dangerous, Pentis said.

The arrests were connected with a seizure by Ventura County investigators of 92.4 pounds of cocaine, valued at about $4.2 million, the preceding evening at a North Hollywood house, Pentis said.

Seven county investigators and two Los Angeles Police Department officers with a search warrant forced their way into the house in the 12000 block of Welby Way about 9 p.m., Pentis said. They found the cocaine in a gym bag in the master bedroom, Pentis said.

Officers also found cash and three weapons, including a 12-gauge shotgun, he said.

Andrias Karapetian, 39, and Mari Karapetian, 34, were arrested on suspicion of sales of cocaine and possession of cocaine for sale. The Armenian nationals were booked at the sheriff’s East Valley jail and bail was set at $1 million, Pentis said.

Pentis said the investigation--which was conducted by the Sheriff’s Department with help from the California Highway Patrol and the Simi Valley and Santa Paula police departments--is continuing. He said the case is an example of South American drug influence invading the county.

Authorities said that Colombian and other South American dealers trying to avoid a crackdown by law enforcement agencies in the Los Angeles area have spread their activities to Ventura County. In addition, they said, demand for cocaine has grown in Ventura County.

“The county’s definitely experiencing the influx from South America both by population and by drugs,” Simi Valley Police Sgt. Danny Dunbar said.

In August of 1989, a Simi Valley police investigation led to the seizure in Los Angeles County of 2,068 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $94 million. The five Colombian nationals arrested were charged with possession of cocaine, transporting and selling cocaine and conspiracy to sell cocaine. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced to state prison, authorities said.

In October, the general manager of the Harbortown Marina Resort Hotel in Ventura, two Colombians and a Los Angeles man were arrested in connection with the sale of 4.4 pounds of cocaine, authorities said. The Colombians, who were from the Los Angeles area, supplied hotelier Mario Robert Waters with the cocaine, police said.

Waters, who has since resigned his job, was sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to sell cocaine. One of the Colombians pleaded guilty to transportation of cocaine and was sentenced to one year in jail and six years probation. The others charged in the case are scheduled to start trial on Monday on drug charges, officials said.

“This is the typical South American profile,” Ventura Police Lt. Steve Bowman said, referring to the Harbortown case. “The tentacles are reaching out of Los Angeles up here.”

Last month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration confiscated 22 pounds of cocaine and arrested six Mexican nationals at Oxnard’s Financial Plaza Hilton, interrupting a lunch crowd in the dining room when three of the men overturned tables in an attempt to flee, authorities said. The men, who were indicted in federal court, are awaiting trial, authorities said.