Authorities Arrest Four Men in Suspected Narcotics Ring

Four men were arrested on suspicion of running a drug ring out of their homes and from a business in Laguna Beach, sheriff’s investigators said Friday.

Louis Zono Torres, 30, and Shawn Thomas, 28, both of Irvine, Scott Deane Williams, 23, of Tustin and Scott Michael Bakkum, 31, of Dana Point were arrested by sheriff’s narcotics investigators on suspicion of transporting and selling marijuana, Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner said.

Torres and Thomas were first arrested during a drug sale to an undercover officer in a parking lot near the 24000 block of Avenida De La Carlota in Laguna Hills, police said. Their arrests led officials to the other two suspects and the seizure of $40,000 in marijuana.

The drugs were found throughout the suspects’ homes and a Laguna Beach business that police did not identify, Garner said.

During the three-week investigation, authorities also seized an assault-type rifle and two clone cellular phones, officials said.

All four suspects were booked in Orange County Jail this week and held on $10,000 bail each, police said. Williams also is being held on a no-bail probation warrant for a prior conviction of possessing marijuana for sale.