Police Arrest 5, Seize $1 Million in Cash, Drugs

In an ongoing investigation of an alleged drug distribution network, police arrested five people, seized more than $1 million in drugs and cash and expect more arrests, they said Wednesday.

Police and federal drug agents last week confiscated more than $775,000 worth of cocaine and $300,000 in cash in homes in Fullerton and Sylmar and in cars belonging to the suspects, Buena Park Police Sgt. Richard Saak said.

Authorities said they also found 20 loaded weapons, ranging from handguns to rifles, and ammunition.

“We had been conducting a surveillance for a period of time, and once we saw an indication that something was in the works, we stopped two cars that we had been following and found cocaine under the front seat of one of them and $199,000 stashed inside the door panels of the other,” Saak said.

The five men were arrested separately and without incident last Thursday.

The suspects include Antonio Chaidez Villarreal, 33, of Pico Rivera; Trinidad Lopez Mesa, 30, of Sylmar; Jaime Macias Barraza, 22, of Fullerton; Gonzalo Camacho Urias, 26, of Covina; and Bernardo Labra Burgos, 32, of Culiacan, Mexico.

Villarreal was described by Saak as a “ringleader.”

The five were arraigned in federal court Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. They are being held without bail at the U.S. marshal’s office in Santa Ana, Saak said.

“It’s a big group, and we are likely to arrest other people connected with this,” Saak said. “We suspect that they are all either related to each other or are close friends from Mexico.”