POLICE SEIZE HEROIN SENT TO PRISONS

Arrests Of 'Main Suppliers' Reveal Link To Mexican Mafia, Officials Say

GLENDALE -- Glendale Police have arrested a Sun Valley couple, accusing
them of sending heroin to inmates at two state prisons as part of an
operation for the Mexican Mafia.

Jose Ayala, 45, and his wife Candelaria, 43, were charged Monday in a San
Fernando courtroom on state charges and could face federal charges because
they sent packages via the U.S. Postal Service, officials said.

"This couple was the main supplier at Lancaster State Prison," Investigator
Luis Pasache said Thursday of the seriousness of the case.

Jose Ayala is charged with possessing heroin for sale. When officers
searched his Sun Valley home, he was trying to flush the drug down a
toilet, Pasache said.

Candelaria Ayala is charged with transporting heroin. Glendale Police
intercepted a package, with the help of postal police, she sent to an
inmate at Solano State Prison on Jan. 18, officials said.

The package contained a bag of butterscotch candies, some of which had been
switched with pieces of tar heroin totaling 12 grams. In prison, each gram
is worth $1,000, although it is paid for by inmates' families or friends on
the outside, Pasache said.

Police discovered prison officials were investigating the couple for the
same practice at Lancaster State Prison. On Sunday, officials seized a
package sent by the couple to an inmate there and found 37 grams of tar
heroin, which can be smoked or injected, Pasache said.