Motel raid yields drugs, fake money

Marisa O’Neil

Narcotics officers arrested six residents on drug and counterfeiting

charges Tuesday night in a raid of a Newport Boulevard motel.

The raid, which took place just before 7 p.m., revealed chaotic

living conditions, methamphetamines, drug paraphernalia and

counterfeit money in some rooms at the Tern Inn Motel at 2154 Newport

Blvd.

Police arrested 40-year-old Augustin Holguin on suspicion of

possessing methamphetamine and 24-year-old Kristal Paz on suspicion

of selling methamphetamine.

Paz’s two young sons played inside their motel room while she sat

handcuffed in the back of a police car, waiting to take her to the

police station.

Larry Wilber, 53, and Maria Wilber, 43, were arrested on suspicion

of possessing counterfeit currency, and 24-year-old Samuel Fiebiger

and 40-year-old Steven Gambil were arrested on suspicion of being

under the influence of drugs, police said.

The arrests typified the problems that plague low-cost motels

along Newport Boulevard, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Mike Ginther said.

“There’s a public nuisance factor,” Ginther said. “We get a lot of

complaints, and officers make a lot of arrests of people leaving

here.”

Detectives started an investigation after receiving complaints

about the location from nearby residents, he said. Undercover

officers made drug buys and identified suppliers and users during the

three-month investigation at the motel.

Detectives from the Costa Mesa Police Department’s narcotics,

special enforcement and K-9 details, as well as a K-9 officer from

Newport Beach, served warrants on four rooms at the motel during the

raid.

A group of arrestees and some of their friends were gathered in

one of the rooms when the police showed up, Det. Bryan Glass said.

That room was piled high with furniture, bags of clothes,

pornographic magazines and boxes of personal possessions strewn

across the floor.

“I was just hanging out,” Holguin said as he sat on the ground

outside the room. “I didn’t know anything was going on.”

Meanwhile, officers found drug paraphernalia in his truck, parked

behind the hotel.

Paz and Larry and Maria Wilber are being held on $25,000 bail,

according to police. Holguin is being held on $20,000 bail and

Fiebiger and Gambil on $5,000 bail, according to police.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.