$5.8 Million, 1,000 Pounds of Cocaine Seized

Federal and local authorities in Ventura County have seized $5.8 million and nearly 1,000 pounds of cocaine as part of a three-year nationwide money-laundering and drug-trafficking case targeting the two major Colombian cartels.

The undercover operation, based in Ventura County, led to the arrest of one high-ranking member of the Cali cartel and 17 other members of the Cali and Medellin cartels. No details of the arrests were given, nor were the suspects identified.

More arrests are expected when authorities seek a dozen federal indictments in the case next week. Five suspects have been secretly indicted in Los Angeles and Detroit, authorities said.

At a news conference in Ventura on Friday, Sheriff Larry Carpenter said the case represents the largest confiscation of drug money in county history.

Up to $2 million of the seized cash could be returned to the Sheriff’s Department through federal asset forfeiture laws, he said. The money was seized at a variety of locations in several states over two years, including $1 million last month in Thousand Oaks.

The joint investigation by U.S. Customs officials and Ventura County deputies was launched in October, 1991, when an informant arranged a meeting at a Thousand Oaks hotel between undercover sheriff’s deputies and a high-level Cali drug trafficker.

Undercover agents infiltrated both Colombian cartels and met with traffickers in Los Angeles, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, New York and Newark, the sheriff said. Authorities say the two cartels are responsible for most of the cocaine imported into this country.

To gain greater access to the cartels, drug agents set up an illegitimate money-laundering organization based in eastern Ventura County that charged a fee to deposit drug profits in U.S. and foreign banks. The sums averaged about $500,000, but ranged from $100,000 to several million, federal authorities said.