$1Million Marijuana Bust

Los Angeles: Narcotics detectives assigned to Los Angles Police Department’s Rampart Police Station and Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, seized over 1,000 pounds of marijuana and a cache of guns and money last night.

“This is one of the largest drug seizures by one of our local police stations in recent memory,” said Police Chief William J. Bratton. “The arrestees made up a major Jamaican drug trafficking ring, which brought marijuana over the Mexican border, supplying the greater Los Angeles area with drugs.”

Narcotics detectives, acting on a tip from the DEA, staked out an apartment complex at 3333 West Second Street in the Westlake area of Los Angeles around 2:30 PM yesterday, April 6, 2006. They watched as several men loaded duffel bags into a car outside the apartment. Some of the detectives followed the car and detained it along with two men. The detectives found the duffel bags contained about 200 pounds of marijuana. Both men were arrested.

Police continued to watch the apartment, and about 4 PM, they saw another man load more duffel bags into the trunk of another car. They arrested him after conducting a traffic stop away from the apartment.

About 30 minutes later, the detectives converged on the apartment complex and contained the location. They detained several more men and wrote a search warrant.

After a judge signed the warrant, the detectives searched the apartment and found about 1,200 pounds of marijuana, packaged in 25 large bales. In total, the seizure had a street value of about $1 million. Detectives also found a cache of weapons: five semi-automatic pistols, a .223 Colt AR-15 assault rifle, and a 9mm assault rifle, fitted with a silencer. This last weapon is similar to ones used by Navy SEALs in military operations.

Detectives also found a large amount of cash, heat-sealed in plastic. Inside the apartment, they seized $141,882 in cash and another $10,200 in money orders. The detectives found $4,209 in cash on the arrestees, for a total money seizure of $156,291.

All eight men arrested were Jamaicans. Seven of the eight had prior felony convictions, had been deported, and have since illegally re-entered the USA. Agents with the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force, led by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, placed federal immigration holds on those seven arrestees.

They were booked on a felony charge of possession of marijuana for sales. They were identified as:

Martin Torvor, 39, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Ion Osbourne, 29, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Sylvester Allen, 37, of Pomona – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Carlos Brady, 40, of Hawthorne – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Trevor Dalhouse, 52, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Hugh Lywood, 44, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Dennis Barnes, 47, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail – Immigration hold
Larick Matheson, 55, of Los Angeles – $100,000 bail