4 HELD IN HUGE DRUG SEIZURE

Crime: in One of the Year's Biggest Local Narcotics Busts, Deputies Find
$1.2 Million Worth of Heroin, Cocaine and Methamphetamine in Home near
Point Mugu.

In the second-largest drug bust this year in Ventura County, sheriff's
deputies have arrested four Oxnard residents and seized more than $1
million worth of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The arrests ended a monthlong investigation that started when deputies
received a tip that illegal drugs were being sold from a house on
rural Dufau Road near the Point Mugu naval base, officials said late
Friday.

According to Sgt. Bob Garcia, undercover detectives were able to
purchase several small quantities of drugs at the house during the
last few weeks. On Thursday afternoon, deputies set up a stakeout.

About 1 p.m. Thursday, deputies pulled over a car that was leaving the
home, arrested three men and seized a small amount of illegal drugs,
Garcia said. Taken into custody were Juan Cortez, 38, Hildardo
Cardona, 61, and Francisco Hernandez, 23.

After obtaining a search warrant for the home, deputies arrested Maria
Elena Aguirre, 25, and took her two young children into protective
custody, authorities said.

Inside the home, deputies seized 19 pounds of cocaine, 6.8 pounds of
heroin and 6.5 pounds of methamphetamine.

The approximate street value of the drugs, according to Garcia, was
$1.2 million.

The drugs had been divided into various weights, including kilos, and
were packaged for sale, authorities said.

"The detectives were not expecting to find the quantities they did,
particularly of heroin," Garcia said in a written statement. "The
seizure of heroin was particularly large as most seizures are often
measured in grams and ounces."

Authorities believe the drugs were being sold throughout western
Ventura County.

Besides drugs, deputies seized scales, packaging materials, written
records about drug transactions and $50,000 in alleged drug proceeds.

The four suspects were booked into Ventura County Jail, each on
suspicion of possessing drugs for sale and transportation of drugs.
Cortez and Hernandez, considered the primary players, were being held
on $1-million bail each and the bail for Cardona and Aguirre was set
at $50,000 each.

The seizure marks the second major drug operation uncovered in the
county this year. In early August, a Camarillo couple were arrested on
suspicion of participating in a methamphetamine ring after deputies
seized more than 30 pounds of the drug at three houses in Ventura County.

Rafael Escobar Marron, 35, remains in jail without bail and his
girlfriend, Sandra Mares Garcia, 31, has since posted bail.

During Marron's arrest, deputies found 12 ounces of methamphetamine
inside his pants. At his home, inside a safe encased in concrete and
hidden under floorboards, deputies allegedly found another 8 pounds of
methamphetamine.

Authorities also searched two Oxnard houses that were believed to be
part of the operation and found 22 pounds of methamphetamine and 15
gallons of methamphetamine oil, which is used to make the drug.

Authorities valued the confiscated drugs and a clandestine lab that
was also seized at nearly $2 million.