Thread: 76 pounds of heroin seized, man arrested after standoff

76 pounds of heroin seized, man arrested after standoff with police

July 27, 2011 | 4:09pm

Authorities discovered 76 pounds of packaged heroin in the home of a San Bernardino man involved in a 45-minute standoff with police on Monday.

Police were called to the suspect’s home after he stood on his driveway and allegedly starting firing a handgun, prompting calls from worried neighbors.

Frank Cardona, 33, was arrested on suspicion of possession and sale of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm.

After the arrest, the Police Department’s gang unit obtained a search warrant for his home in the 1200 block of West King Street. Inside they found the tar heroin, which the department estimated to be worth $3 million if sold on the street.

“They are definitely looking into a relationship to Mexican drug cartels because of the size of the seizure,’’ said Lt. Gwendolyn Waters.

It’s unclear why Cardona was in front of the home firing a gun, which triggered the police response, Waters said.

Also arrested on suspicion of drug possession and sales was Dulce Valdez-Quintero, 30, of Tijuana, who was inside the home when police arrived.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... lice-.html

Most drug trafficking gang members do have guns.

Cartel ties probed in heroin arrest

04:41 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 27, 2011

By SANDRA STOKLEY
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino police are investigating the possibility that the man and woman accused of possessing $3 million worth of black-tar heroin are part of a Mexican drug cartel, a department spokeswoman said.

Frank Javier Cardona, 33, of San Bernardino, was charged Wednesday with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner and resisting a police officer. Dulce Judith Valdez, 30, who was found in the home with Cardona, was charged in the same complaint from the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.

Police Lt. Gwendolyn Waters noted that Valdez is from Tijuana, Mexico.



Frank Javier Cardona, left, and Dulce Judith Valdez
Waters said a joint unit of narcotics and gang officers are investigating the case. No other agencies are involved at this point, she said. Waters declined to say who officers may be investigating, but said the department is assuming that the defendants were not acting alone.

The heroin weighed 76 pounds, the department's largest seizure ever, Waters said.

Police were called to the home on the 1200 block of King Street on the west side of San Bernardino on Monday by a neighbor who reported that Cardona had fired a gun while standing in his front yard.


Submitted to The Press-Enterprise

Seventy-six pounds of black-tar heroin valued at $3 million was seized from a San Bernardino home in the 1200 block of King Street, police say.
Cardona was arrested after a 45-minute standoff.

Police searching the home found heroin packaged for sale, according to a news release. They also found several ounces of methamphetamine and the handgun Cardona was suspected of firing.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stor ... 46f9f.html