Published: Feb. 20, 2012 Updated: 1:59 p.m.

88 pounds of cocaine found in empty house

By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAKE FOREST – Eight-eight pounds of cocaine were found early Saturday morning in a house that narcotics investigators believe was used as a stash house to hide, and distribute the drug throughout the country.

The discovery is believed to have a street value of about $4 million.

Forty kilos of cocaine were found Saturday morning in a Lake Forest house that authorities said was being used to store drugs. Two men were taken into custody.

COURTESY OF THE INLAND CRACKDOWN ALLIED TASK FORCE

The cocaine was found by officials with the Inland Crackdown Allied Task Force, whose investigation lead them to a Lake Forest house along the 23300 block of Red Robin Lane, said Cmdr. Tim Hales of the task force.

Authorities received information that cocaine was being distributed at the home, and investigators observing the house saw two men driving away from the house at about 9 p.m. Friday night, Hales said.

Task force investigators asked the Orange County Sheriff's Department to stop the vehicle along the northbound lanes of the I-5 freeway, Hales said.

After the vehicle was stopped, officials found a secret compartment inside the car that was empty, he said.

Investigators then served a search warrant at the empty house at 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

Authorities discovered a second car parked in the garage of the home, and 40 kilos hidden inside a secret compartment of that vehicle, Hales said.

No one is believed to have lived at the Lake Forest house, Hales said. The house appears to have been used strictly as a place to stash drugs and distribute to other locations.

No furniture was found inside the home, except for one bed and a television, he said.

Julio Cesar Perez-Arellano, of Aliso Viejo, and Tomas Agustin Della Rocca, of Lake Forest, were taken into custody on suspicion of possession of cocaine and distribution.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

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