TAQUERIA OWNER ARRESTED IN BIG COCAINE BUST

Federal narcotics agents have arrested two men as alleged members of a major
cocaine trafficking ring that reportedly Operated Out of a taco shop in Daly
City.

The alleged drug dealers are Jose Coronado, the operator of Taqueria La
Reyna in a strip mail on San Diego Avenue, and Jose Luis Sanchez, one of the
cooks at the. taco shop.

A criminal complaint filed against the two men Thursday said Coronado
boasted of having a large-scale source of the drug in Los Angeles and
offered to sell an undercover agent from the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration.as much as 10 kilograms of cocaine per transaction.

The complaint said that Coronado was using the taco shop as a front for his
cocaine dealing activities and that inside the restaurant bathroom he would
measure the drug into plastic bags for sale,

Federal narcotics agents learned of the operation from an informant who had
worked with them on several previous cases. An affidavit by DEA Special
Agent Michael Estrada said the informant had made contact with Coronado
earlier this summer. The informant observed that Coronado had approximately
$90,000 in cash in his taco store, plus a large quantity of gold jewelry.

The agents sent the informant back to the taqueria with marked money to
purchase samples of cocaine from Coronado and Sanchez.

After several small purchases had taken place, undercover DEA agents
arranged a couple of larger drug buys, the affidavit said.

If convicted of the charges, the two men could be sentenced to as long as 34
years in federal prison and fined up to $6.25 million.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"