Agents seize 121 pounds of heroin
A random check of a car at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro this week led to one of the state's largest heroin seizures and will cause the drug to be far scarcer in Southern California in the coming weeks, authorities said.
The narcotic is perhaps the most difficult to intercept, officials say, because it is often trafficked in small quantities that are easy to conceal. Agents were visibly gratified to announce Friday that the single investigation captured more than 121 pounds, an amount that could have resulted in more than 700,000 doses on the street.
According to authorities, the inspection that launched their investigation occurred by chance Wednesday afternoon as a drug runner attempted to travel into the United States. Border Patrol agents conducting a routine search uncovered five bundles of heroin hidden inside the car and notified the San Diego headquarters of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE agents, using a surveillance technique they would not disclose, connected that car to a house in a well-kept Anaheim neighborhood next to the Riverside Freeway.
About 11 p.m. Wednesday, agents from ICE's Santa Ana office joined Anaheim and Irvine police to raid the home. They said they found a spartanly furnished safehouse with several adults, five children younger than 10 and a cache of narcotics.
In addition to the heroin, agents said they discovered 34 pounds of marijuana, 3 pounds of what appeared to be methamphetamine and several thousand dollars. The drugs carried a total wholesale value of $1.3 million and could have garnered $4 million to $6 million at the retail level.
The children were taken into custody by officials from the state Department of Social Services, and six adults were arrested and charged by the U.S. attorney's office with possession of narcotics with intent to sell. Authorities did not say how many were arrested in the house and how many in the car.
The defendants, who were arraigned Thursday in federal court in Santa Ana, are: Luis Alcantar-Zepeda, 28, Jose Casares-Macias, 22, Rosendo Churape-Cardenas, 37, and Jairo Ortiz-Diaz, 26, all of the Mexican state of Michoacan; and Jacqueline Pimentel, 31, and Rosa Soto, 26, both of Anaheim.
All are being held in the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana and could face life in prison if convicted, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert C. Gannon.
- Mexican Police Make Record Heroin Seizure - Trafficking: Authorities break up an unusual international alliance involving smuggling teams in Southeast Asia and Mexico transporting narcotics into California. Nine people are arrested. Jan 17, 1994
- Authorities break up Colombian heroin networks May 24, 2007
- Man Arrested, Heroin Seized at Border Station Jun 07, 1996
