CUSTOMS SEIZES $7 MILLION IN CASH AND COCAINE IN SAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO- Authorities seized nearly $1 million and more than 600 pounds of
cocaine while arresting two alleged drug smugglers, officials said Saturday.

The seizure followed a six-month investigation that ended with the arrest
late Friday of two men on drug charges, said U.S. Customs Service spokesman
Vince Bond.

Agents arrested Mark Villanueva, 47, of San Diego, and Severino Serabia
Mendoza, 50, of Tijuana, Mexico, in separate actions as the men were
driving on Interstate 8 in San Diego.

Authorities allegedly found about $50,000 in cash in Villanueva's Ford
Explorer and approximately $150,000 in Serabia's Lexus.

Serabia, a Mexican citizen who also lives in San Diego, tried to escape on
foot after agents stopped his vehicle, but he was quickly caught, Bond said.

Officials from Customs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Border
Patrol and other agencies searched a truck painting business and two nearby
storage units following the arrests. A message left on the answering
machine of the business Saturday was not immediately returned.

Inside the storage units, agents found 638 pounds of cocaine, with an
estimated street value of $5.2 million, and $750,000 in cash. They also
confiscated eight automobiles and two motorcycles, including several with
secret compartments that officials believe were used to smuggle the drugs
over the U.S.-Mexico border.

The drugs were shipped from Villanueva's truck painting business across the
country to various destinations on the East Coast, Bond said. He declined
to specify the locations, saying it was part of an ongoing investigation.