4 Men Arrested, Drugs Seized in 2 Raids

Four men, including a Cal Lutheran student, have been arrested in drug raids in Ventura and Thousand Oaks, officials said Tuesday.

In Ventura, an undercover operation Tuesday climaxed in the arrest of a suspected narcotics distributor and snared 40 ounces of black tar heroin in a Ventura shopping center, a federal Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman said.

German Valencia, 32, of Long Beach was arrested without incident at 1 p.m. in the K mart parking lot on Victoria Avenue, DEA spokesman Ralph Lochridge said.

Valencia was expected to be booked on suspicion of possession and distribution of heroin, Lochridge said.

A DEA undercover agent posing as a buyer got into Valencia’s car, where the suspect stored heroin in golf ball-sized clear plastic bags behind back seat panels, he said.

The heroin is part of an estimated $5-million shipment that recently moved from Mexico to Long Beach, Lochridge said. DEA intelligence believes that the 500-ounce shipment was earmarked to be sold along a route stretching through Ventura to San Jose.

Lochridge said additional arrests were anticipated.

In Thousand Oaks, the student and two other men were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale.

In addition, one of the men is suspected of selling 156 pounds of marijuana to two Ventura men later apprehended by authorities in Utah.

According to a release by Sheriff’s Sgt. Gary Pentis, Ventura County sheriff’s detectives and FBI agents began watching the home of CLU student Moshe Levy, 24, on Avenida Amelgado in Thousand Oaks.

After seeing what they believed were several drug transactions, the officers obtained a search warrant for the home. But before they acted on the warrant, Ventura residents Jeffrey Steward, 42, and Craig Minney, 30, were arrested in Utah with 156 pounds of marijuana allegedly sold to them by Levy, Pentis said.

Detectives then raided Levy’s home Monday and found five pounds of marijuana and $10,000 in cash, Pentis said.

Arrested along with Levy were house mates Bryan Pearson, 22, and Preston Walsh, 27. All three were booked at the East Valley Jail on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale.

Levy was released on bail early Tuesday, and Walsh and Pearson were transferred to Ventura County Jail, where they were being held in lieu of $5,000 each.

Times staff writer Ron Soble contributed to this story.