Pasadena men among suspects jailed after cocaine, weopons found at LA pot dispensary

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES — Police raided a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary suspected of being a front for an interstate drug-trafficking operation, arresting six people — including two Pasadena men — and seizing 20 pounds of cocaine and several weapons, authorities said.
Raymond George, 60, the owner of the White Oak Healing Center in the San Fernando Valley, was among those arrested for investigation of conspiracy to sell cocaine and marijuana, police said in a statement Thursday.
The others arrested were Reginald Beijer, 59, and Alfredo Gonzalez, 51, both of Pasadena; Halz Carrera, 51, of Los Angeles; Francisco Franco, 41, of Riverside; and Francisco Vallejo, a 30-year-old resident of Tijuana, Mexico.
The investigation began last year after a murder attempt on George’s son in what appeared to be an organized crime-style hit. Police said the probe, conducted with Ohio drug trafficking investigators, led to information that implicated George in the transportation and sale of marijuana and cocaine between Los Angeles and Cleveland, where he has a second home.
He was arrested after officers, who were preparing to serve a search warrant at the center, saw five men come in to make an alleged cocaine deal, the statement said. They were taken into custody while leaving the center and George was arrested after SWAT officers ordered him to come out.
Besides the drugs, police seized a loaded rifle, two loaded pistols, a bottle containing 120 oxycodone pills and nearly $7,000 in cash. They said they found the cocaine in one of the suspect’s vehicles, and seized George’s car, which had Ohio license plates and had been modified with secret storage compartments.
Each of the six suspects was being held on $1.5 million bail.
An after-hours call to the center went unanswered.

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