$28 MILLION IN DRUGS SEIZED RAIDS BREAK UP COCAINE-, POT-TRAFFICKING RING.

Byline: JOSH KLEINBAUM Staff Writer

Police seized $28 million worth of cocaine and marijuana in a series of raids from Sylmar to Chicago during a monthlong campaign to dismantle a Los Angeles-based drug-trafficking cell, authorities said Tuesday.

Officers from the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and LA IMPACT raided homes in West Covina, Moreno Valley and Lynwood on Monday, while Illinois authorities searched a home in the Chicago suburb of Dupage.

In the past month, police also raided a Sylmar home and seized two tractor-trailers used to transport cocaine, one in L.A. and one in Chicago.

"This is part of a large Mexican drug cartel," Attorney General Bill Lockyer said. "We keep chopping away at these organizations. Occasionally, we'll get the head."

This time, officials believe they've gotten a sizable limb. Eight members of the ring were arrested, including alleged ringleader Steve Montes, 32, of West Covina, and two other Southern Californians, Enjobul King, 33, and Derwin Webster, 32, both of Moreno Valley.

All eight were charged with criminal conspiracy, possession of cocaine with the intent to sell and the sale of cocaine. Police have issued arrest warrants for two others.

"We want to send a message to Mexican drug operators - today is just the beginning," said Jerry Hunter, assistant chief of the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. "We have intercepted several other cells, and you can be sure that they will be getting knocks on their door early in the morning sometime soon."

In announcing the arrests, police described the anatomy of a drug-trafficking operation.

The cocaine - 353 kilograms in all - was likely grown in Colombia and processed in Bolivia before being transported to Mexico. Once there, drug cartels had to find a way to get it into the U.S.

Scouts monitored entry points, looking for shift changes or times of heavy traffic when Border Patrol agents would be stretched thin. They then sent in cars, each with cocaine packed in hidden compartments, trying to slip through as many as possible.

Sometimes, the drug lords sent cars with marijuana across the border first. If those cars were stopped, it tied up Border Patrol agents, allowing more of the cars with cocaine to cross.

The Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's investigation into this cell - dubbed Operation Micho - began in November when the BNE's Border Interdiction Team in San Diego identified a car carrying cocaine in hidden compartments and tracked it.

Over six months, agents infiltrated the ring. They found four stash houses in Southern California, all in middle-class, residential neighborhoods.

Members of the ring stored cocaine in the Moreno Valley condominium, marijuana in the Sylmar house and cash at the other locations.

Once enough drugs accumulated, ring members packed a tractor-trailer to ship them across the country, usually loading the truck in an empty parking lot or at a motel. Then, they'd fill the rest of the truck with produce and other legitimate cargo so it could pass vehicle inspections along its route.

"With produce, it's difficult for us to check a truck," Hunter said. "If we unload an entire truck and there's nothing there, all that produce will go bad. Then we're facing lawsuits. We have to be certain, and they know that."

Although officials feel they've taken out a major ring, they believe the cocaine seized is a small portion of what is being smuggled into the United States from Mexico. During an interrogation, one of the suspects told them as much.

"With a smug smile on his face, he said, `You guys only got a small fraction of what we have,"' Hunter said.

josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Arrested were Enjobul King, left, Steve Montes, center, and Derwin Webster.