4 Women Arrested in Heroin Case

Four Orange County women were in custody Tuesday on suspicion of heroin possession after one of them was arrested at John Wayne Airport, allegedly trying to smuggle $2.5 million worth of drugs aboard a flight, officials said.

Michelle Amezola, 29, of Santa Ana was arrested Saturday as she attempted to board a plane bound for Seattle, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Garner.

Investigators seized about four pounds of black tar heroin from her luggage, Garner said.

The arrest marked the second sizable heroin seizure at the airport in the span of six days.

Garner said the July 29 arrest of a Mexican national allegedly trying to carry 3 1/2 pounds of heroin aboard another Seattle flight led to Saturday’s arrest.

Sheriff’s investigators and Santa Ana police tracked the source of the heroin to Amezola and her associates, Garner said.

The other women arrested Saturday were Lidovina Lucatero, 47, of Santa Ana and her two daughters, Ana Rita Lucatero Prado, 24, of Santa Ana and Gabriella Lucatero Prado, 22, of Lake Forest.

Lucatero and her daughters were arrested after a search of their homes turned up “information pertinent to the investigation,” Garner said. No narcotics were seized in those searches, he said.

All four women were being held Tuesday at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail each, Garner said.

The investigation into the alleged heroin smuggling operation is ongoing, Garner said.