LOS ANGELES : 200 Pounds of Cocaine Seized; 11 Arrested
Ending a monthlong surveillance operation, a dozen state narcotics agents have seized nearly 200 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $18 million and arrested 11 Colombians in three Los Angeles-area raids, authorities said Thursday.
Special agents from the state attorney general’s office seized more than 92 pounds of cocaine Tuesday from a van on the Barstow Freeway in Victorville and arrested Wilfredo Barona and Margarita Anaya. The drugs were concealed in a false compartment in the van, authorities said. Evidence obtained from the van led officials to request search warrants for two locations.
Later Tuesday, officials seized another 105 pounds of cocaine from behind a wall in a residence on the 1700 block of South Charlemont Avenue in Hacienda Heights. Ester Saldarriaga Duque, Astrid Aidee Londono-Cano, Maria Christina Ruiz, Gildardo Buritica, Rafael Enrique Alfonso, Osvairo Tangarife and Jose Duque were arrested at the site.
Two suspects, Diego Alonso Jaramillo and Luis Enrique Velez, were arrested on the 400 block of South Catalina Street in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
All 11 are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to transport cocaine.
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