PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY — Two men were booked into the Santa Monica jail on drug charges after a multi-agency task force seized 47 kilos of cocaine and $2.3 million in cash, police said Monday.
Federal agents and local police officers uncovered cocaine and cash Wednesday at a warehouse in Valencia after serving three search warrants in the Los Angeles-area. Santa Monica police were joined by officers from El Monte, Costa Mesa and Anaheim, along with federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, SMPD Sgt. Jay Trisler said.
Vasile Babuschin and Sergei Souetov, both Canadian citizens, were arrested and booked on narcotics charges. ICE federal detainers were placed on both. Generally, an immigration detainer is a request to a local law enforcement agency to detain a suspect for up to 48 hours after that person would otherwise be released, in order to provide ICE an opportunity to assume custody of that individual.
The task force initially targeted Babuschin, who was a suspect in a previous major cocaine seizure, Trisler said. Officers tailed Babuschin once he arrived at LAX from Toronto on Jan. 5. He led the task force to a residence in North Hollywood, which was identified as a drug house. He also led agents and officers to the warehouse and a semi-truck in Valencia.
Trisler said on the evening of Jan. 12, the task force swooped in, serving the warrants and seizing the cocaine and cash. Los Angeles County fire fighters assisted by cutting open a safe.
kevinh@www.smdp.com
