State and Local Narcotics Agents Seize More Than $31 Million Dollars in Illegal Drugs

(ALHAMBRA) – Members of the California Department of Justice Inland Crackdown Allied (INCA) Task Force, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Alhambra Police Department on August 5, 2004, seized approximately 3,100 pounds of marijuana and 21 pounds of "ICE" methamphetamine with a street value of more than $31.5 million dollars.

Acting on information about possible activity at a residence in the 1200 block of South Campbell Avenue in Alhambra, investigators saw a van leaving the garage. Investigators followed the van to a shopping center in Alhambra where a transaction occurred with three suspects in another vehicle.

Officers in a marked Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department unit stopped and searched the second vehicle in the City of Los Angeles, resulting in the seizure of approximately 21 pounds of "ICE" methamphetamine and a handgun.

The occupants, Fernando Hernandez, 51; Erica Moreno, 41; and a female juvenile were arrested for possession for sale and transportation of methamphetamine. The driver of the van, Carlos Rodriguez, 23, was later arrested by Alhambra Police Department officers as he drove away from the Campbell Avenue residence.

Armed with a search warrant, INCA Task Force members later seized approximately 3,100 pounds of marijuana from a bedroom of the residence on Campbell Avenue. Evidence at the location indicated the residence was being used as a "stash house" to store and distribute large amounts of narcotics.

The adult suspects were booked at the Los Angeles County Jail and bail was set at $500,000 each. The juvenile suspect was released to a family member.

For more information, please contact INCA Task Force Program Manager Orlando Lopez at (909) 208-9062. Photos are available by e-mail.