Bush Visit Confirmed; Due at Anti-Drug Event

President Bush will stop in Orange County on Wednesday for an anti-drug event at Rancho del Rio, the remote and scenic headquarters of a former notorious drug smuggler, sources have confirmed.

On Tuesday, an advance team from the White House toured the 213-acre ranch, which includes vineyards, a wine press and eight houses made of hand-laid stone, imported logs and tile. The ranch, which has a view of Santa Catalina Island, is accessible only by a treacherous 4-mile dirt road and an unpaved runway that was used by the smugglers.

On Wednesday, the visit was confirmed. Sources said Bush will present Sheriff Brad Gates and other law enforcement officials with a check for $4.39 million--their share of a heroin bust made by the Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Task Force on Feb. 10, 1988.

Law enforcement sources said it may be the largest check ever given to a single police agency since a 1984 federal law allowed local police to use property and cash seized from drug traffickers to pay for drug enforcement efforts.

Rancho del Rio was deeded to Orange County after the Sheriff’s Department seized it during a separate drug investigation on March 1, 1985. The ranch is at the juncture of Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

Bush is also scheduled to visit Los Angeles Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said.