Arrest in Drug Case Leads to Raid of Home
A Westminster man carrying a carefully wrapped Christmas present was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after police found 23 pounds of marijuana inside the box, authorities said Thursday.
The bust led police to a Fountain Valley home where investigators arrested two more suspects and seized nine pounds of cocaine and $17,000 in cash, police said.
The case began at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when Los Angeles Police Department narcotics officers spotted Damien Cook, 20, at the airport. Cook appeared nervous and was “acting in a manner consistent with a narcotics carrier,” LAPD Lt. Sergio Diaz said.
Officers approached Cook as he was preparing to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Columbus, Ohio, and asked to search his carry-on bag, Diaz said. Inside the bag, officers found a gift box containing marijuana with an estimated street value of $19,000, he said.
Diaz said that after the arrest, Cook told police the drugs came from two Fountain Valley locations, a motel room and a home in the 9700 block of La Tierra Circle.
Investigators came up empty-handed at the motel, but they found cash and cocaine--which police said had a street value of about $100,000--at the home.
The two men renting the house--Eric Ross, 20, and Tommy McNeal, 19--were arrested on suspicion of drug possession and possession of drugs for sale, Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Dann Bean said.
The owner of the home, who was not identified, is currently in federal custody in Arizona, Bean said. The investigation is continuing.
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