5 Held on Cocaine Charges in Search of Pacoima House

Cocaine purchases by undercover narcotics officers in Simi Valley led to the search of a Pacoima home and the arrest of five drug suspects on a variety of charges, authorities said Friday.

After officers from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and Santa Paula Police Department made the drug buys, they obtained a search warrant for the Pacoima home, Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Pentis said in a prepared statement.

When officers arrived to search the home about 1 p.m. Thursday, they found Rueben Barra Beltran, 19, of Pacoima and Jose Eugenio Valenzuela, 29, of Studio City standing guard outside with semiautomatic pistols in their waistbands, Pentis said.

Inside the home, officers found Hugo Heriberto Angulo, 22, of San Fernando, Jose Angel Villegas, 24, of Pacoima and Manuel Jasso Gonzalez, 29, of Sun Valley, Pentis said. Angulo also was armed with a semiautomatic handgun, which he dropped when detectives approached, Pentis said. Gonzalez suffered cuts when he tried to flee through a window.

Detectives seized about 2 1/2 pounds of cocaine, $2,000 in cash and a Chevrolet Blazer in the raid. All five men were booked into Ventura County Jail on suspicion of selling cocaine, possession of cocaine for sale and conspiracy. Bail was set at $100,000 each.