7 Held in Suspected Drug Ring

Seven people arrested on suspicion of running a drug-trafficking ring in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties were being held late Friday in federal custody in Los Angeles, authorities said.

All seven appeared Thursday before a U. S. magistrate in Los Angeles on a charge of distribution of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to Ralph Lochridge, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency. If convicted, the suspects face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Five of the suspects were arrested in Fillmore late Tuesday after Ventura County sheriff’s detectives and DEA agents seized five kilos of cocaine in the parking lot of a Vons grocery store.

Lochridge said the suspects had arranged to sell the cocaine to an undercover DEA agent for $17,500 a kilo. The street value of the cocaine was estimated at $500,000, Lochridge said.

Those arrested were Joel Canedo-Garzon, 27, of Fillmore; his wife, Martina Ornelas-Garzon, 30, of Fillmore; Gilbert Padilla, 18, of Los Angeles; Martin Rodriguez-Prieto, 27, of Los Angeles; and his brother, Leonel Rodriguez-Prieto, 21, address unknown.

Lochridge described Martin Rodriguez-Prieto, who was armed at the time of his arrest, as the ringleader of the operation.

Along with the suspects arrested in Fillmore, Miguel Valencia, 24, of Los Angeles and Juan Ramirez-Avila, 19, address unknown, were arrested Wednesday in Goleta, Lochridge said.

All of the suspects were being held Friday night in a federal detention center in Los Angeles. Bail for Martin Rodriguez was set at $100,000. The others were being held without bail.

Lochridge said the drug ring was supplying dealers in Fillmore, Ventura, Simi Valley and Santa Barbara.