Local News in Brief : Huge Cocaine Seizure

Police and Customs agents staged an overnight drug raid that netted 1,462 pounds of cocaine in South El Monte and resulted in the arrests of five people, authorities said Friday.

The cocaine, with an estimated street value of $249 million, was seized after a lengthy surveillance operation that ended in the arrest of two Colombians, two Mexicans and a Californian, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said.

The arrests came after undercover officers watched a meeting between two suspects in Monterey Park and then followed one to a fast-food restaurant in South El Monte, where he met with another man, Gates said.

Both men drove to a business area in South El Monte, where detectives observed what appeared to be a drug sale, he said. The men then returned to the fast-food restaurant and when one left, officers stopped his car and found 150 pounds of cocaine inside.

Another 750 pounds were seized from a car driven by another man as he left the fast-food restaurant, 55 pounds from the car of a third suspect and 507 from a truck-trailer parked at the South El Monte location.

Arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale were Juan Julio Cifuentes, 30, and Diego Salazar, 25, both of Colombia; Calderon Balerio Felix, 43, and Otto Arturo Spencer, 31, both of Mexico, and Hector Moses Calderon, 36, of Artesia. Each was being held on $1 million bail.