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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2006

APR 7 -- LOS ANGELES -- Drug Enforcement Administration and Los Angeles Police Department officials announced the seizure of over 1,000 pounds of marijuana, as well as a cache of guns and cash last night. DEA Special Agents and narcotics detectives assigned to Los Angles Police Department’s Rampart Police Station made the joint seizure.

Narcotics detectives, acting on a tip from the DEA, staked out an apartment complex at 3333 West 2nd 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 three men. The detectives found the duffle bags contained about 200 pounds of marijuana. All three men were arrested.

Police continued to watch the apartment, and about 4 PM, they saw another man load more duffle bags into a trunk of another car. At that point, they converged on the car and the apartment complex. They contained the location, detained several more men, and wrote a search warrant.

After a judged 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. They estimated the amount at $100,000.

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
Silvester 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 Lynwood, 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

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