OFFICIALS PETITION TO SEIZE BUILDING : ACTION MAY HELP HALT DRUG DEALS.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Unable to stop cocaine and heroin sales at an apartment house here despite 17 arrests in 10 years, Los Angeles and federal officials moved Monday to seize the building.

Federal and city officials are using an assets forfeiture law in an effort to take the building in the 5200 block of Aukland Avenue that police have dubbed a ``drug supermarket.''

``We arrested the building,'' said William Cullen, the special assistant to the U.S. attorney who filed the civil action Friday in Los Angeles.

If a judge allows the seizure, it will be the 30th of its kind in Los Angeles, officials said. Federal officials are seeking the forfeiture under the premise that owners Manuel Villareal and Alfonso Cardenas are responsible for illegal activity on their property.

Villareal and Cardenas could not be reached for comment.

Police said the four-unit building is a constant source of complaints from neighborhood residents.

``You use traditional law enforcement methods, but when it continues to repeat itself, you look toward forfeiture,'' said Los Angeles Assistant City Attorney Mary Clare Molidor, director of the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program.

Lillian Salin, who owns a nearby building, came out to thank police and city officials for starting the forfeiture proceeding.

``It's fantastic. It's been a nuisance property for years,'' Salin said.

Some neighbors said they are afraid that if the forfeiture succeeds, families in the building could be evicted.

``We're concerned about the children,'' said Kathy Anderson. ``We live up the street, and they've grown up here.''

Residents would be allowed to continue to live there, unless they are caught selling drugs or using them, said City Attorney James Hahn.

``If narcotics trafficking continues to go on here we'll ask the federal court to evict the tenants,'' Hahn said.

The apartment house, located just east of the Burbank city border, has been a ``drug supermarket'' since the pair bought it in 1987, said Lt. Stan Embry, officer in charge of the FALCON Narcotics Abatement Unit for the Los Angeles Police Department. FALCON stands for Focused Attack Linking Community Organizations and Neighborhood.

In the past, Villareal has been convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, according a declaration filed in court by FBI special agent Karl S. Yohe. Cardenas has been arrested several times for possessing controlled substances with the intent to sell, he said.

No charges are pending against Villareal and Cardenas, and police and city officials declined to comment on whether the pair are the subject of any current investigations.