VENTURA : 2 Men Charged in Record Drug Bust
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Ventura County prosecutors filed felony drug charges Monday against two El Monte men in connection with the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the county’s history, authorities said.
Investigators seized 14 pounds of the illegal drug, worth an estimated $77,000 wholesale and $620,000 on the street, said John Marcello, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The two men, Moises Lepe-Ortiz, 30, and Juan Carlos Llamas, 24, were arrested on Thursday after Llamas allegedly tried to sell the methamphetamine to an unnamed man outside an apartment complex in the 6200 block of Telegraph Road. Lepe-Ortiz was arrested later that night after police served a search warrant at his home in El Monte.
Both men are scheduled to appear Aug. 4 for a preliminary hearing in Ventura County Municipal Court.
LLamas was being held in Ventura County jail on $250,000 bail on suspicion of possessing and selling methamphetamine. Lepe-Ortiz is being held without bail on suspicion of selling methamphetamine and conspiracy to sell methamphetamine.
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the two-month investigation along with officers from Ventura, West Covina and Montebello.
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