1-Day Investigation Yields $26-Million Cocaine Seizure

A one-day Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigation that began with an anonymous tip netted $26.4 million worth of cocaine and four arrests at a suspected “stash” house for drugs in Northridge, authorities said Tuesday.

Deputies raided the home in the 9700 block of Yolanda Avenue at 9:15 p.m. Monday and found 194 pounds of cocaine in a station wagon in the garage, Lt. Bill Christiansen said. They also found $3,000 in cash and an Uzi semiautomatic machine gun, he said.

Officials said four occupants of the house--Francisco Serrano, 42; Alvaro Ruiz, 39; Sophia Salazar, 42 and Marta Tannenbaum, 28--were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to distribute cocaine. All four were being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail each, officials said.

Christiansen said the investigation began Monday morning with an anonymous call to the sheriff’s narcotics unit in Norwalk. He said the caller told a deputy that a large amount of cocaine would be moved from the home Monday.

Deputies placed the home under surveillance, Christiansen said. After they saw a man moving packages that they suspected contained cocaine into the station wagon, the deputies obtained a search warrant and raided the house. From phone tip to drug seizure, the investigation lasted less than 12 hours.

Deputies said they believe the home was rented by the group to store drugs before their distribution in the Los Angeles area. Investigators did not know whether any of the suspects lived on the premises.

Sheriff’s officials estimated the street value of the drug at $26.4 million, while the wholesale value was an estimated $1.3 million.

“It is a significant seizure,” Christiansen said. “They normally come after longer investigations and certainly more information.”

On Tuesday, as a follow-up investigation was beginning, deputies had not determined where the cocaine came from or where it was going. Deputies also said they had no clues as to who the anonymous tipster was or why the person told them about the drug shipment.

“It could have been any number of reasons: a rivalry, an unhappy customer, a neighbor,” Christiansen said.