Police seized 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of cocaine and $1.5 million in cash and arrested two men and a woman when narcotics officers raided a house Friday afternoon.
Alfredo Mendiola-Alvarez, 37, Gerardo Israel Limon-Becerra, 42, and Yolanda Garcia-Vazquez, 49, were due for first court appearances Monday.
Mendiola-Alvarez and Limon-Becerra were being held on $5 million and $2 million respectively. Garcia-Vasquez was held in lieu of $250,000.
According to arrest records, the men had 20 kilograms of cocaine and $1.5 million in cash when police arrested them at 3405 Planet Drive a little before 6 p.m. The street is off Trawick Road near Skycrest Drive.
Garcia-Vasquez, who was booked with a home address nearby on Skycrest Drive, was arrested at the Planet Drive house about an hour later, the records showed.
Mendiola-Alvarez was charged with two counts of cocaine trafficking – one saying he possessed the drug and one saying he had transported it.
Limon-Becerra and Garcia-Vasquez were charged with trafficking by possession.
Federal immigration officials asked for Mendiola-Alvarez and Limon-Becerra, who are from Mexico, to be held for 48 hours whenever they are released from local or state custody.
Officials said that a computer check showed Mendiola-Alvarez already had been ordered deported from the U.S. The form asking for him to be held listed several aliases that officials said he has used.
A form said that Limon-Becerra appeared to be in the U.S. illegally.
Garcia-Vasquez is in the country legally, arrest records showed.
Details about the investigation that led police to the house were not disclosed. Most major drug investigations involve local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that contribute people to regional task forces.
Ron Gallagher: 919-829-4572, @RPGKT
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