Newport Beach : Four Arrested on Drug Charges; Cocaine Seized

Four men were in custody Wednesday after being arrested at a Newport Beach motel on drug charges in connection with an alleged attempt to sell about 11 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $500,000 to undercover officers, authorities said.

The arrests Tuesday night culminated a monthlong investigation by Brea and Newport Beach police and agents with the state Department of Justice and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

A Brea undercover officer who requested anonymity because of the nature of his work said that “a couple more” suspects may be arrested “as soon as we can find them.”

Booked into the Newport Beach City Jail on suspicion of conspiracy and sales of cocaine were Louis Valadez, 24, Michael Salazar, 35, and Anthony Barela, 25, all of Santa Ana, and David Wayne Cantral, 22, identified by authorities as a transient.

Bail was set at $500,000 each pending their scheduled arraignment today in Central Orange County Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

The four were arrested after allegedly negotiating for a month to arrange a drug transaction with the Brea undercover officer and an undercover agent with the state Justice Department.

Ed Synicky, a special agent and supervisor with the state agency, said that authorities do not know how long the drug sales went on or how much cocaine was smuggled into the Orange County area.

The undercover Brea officer said that $4,000 in cash and some “packaging stuff” was found when Salazar’s Santa Ana apartment was searched late Tuesday.