2 Members of Drug Ring Seized Again

Two members of the “Coronado Company,” a former drug-smuggling ring that had its start among classmates at Coronado High School in the early 1970s, have been arrested on unrelated drug charges, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Edward Otero of Del Mar was arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco Tuesday after his arrest in the Bay Area a day earlier in connection with an alleged large-scale, marijuana-smuggling operation.

Otero’s arraignment followed the arrest of Robert Kent Lahodny in San Diego on Friday on charges that he was part of an alleged deal to sell 11 pounds of cocaine.

Otero and Lahodny were leaders of the “Coronado Company,” a drug-smuggling operation that existed for nearly 10 years until the government began indicting its members in 1984. About 60 people, including Otero and Lahodny, were convicted in the case.

Previous Convictions

Both men had served sentences in federal prison and were on parole at the time of their most recent arrests.

John P. Pierce, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego, said the arrests of Otero and Lahodny capped unrelated investigations into drug trafficking in the San Diego area. He said the timing of the arrests was coincidental.

Otero was take into custody along with nine others for their alleged involvement in a plan to import 10 tons of marijuana, Pierce said. Pierce said Otero and several others arrested were tracked to the Bay Area, where they allegedly planned to remove the marijuana from a Colombian ship docked there.

Lahodny, who Pierce said was released from prison in 1987, was one of three men arrested by federal agents and accused of plotting to sell 11 pounds of cocaine to an undercover agent.

Pierce said Lahodny acted as a “broker” in the alleged deal. A San Diego resident, Lahodny has been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Also arrested were Roger W. Fry, a former member of the Tijuana-based Alberto Sicilia-Falcon marijuana-smuggling operation that was broken up when members were indicted in 1976, and Mark Dean of San Francisco.

All three were arraigned in federal court in San Diego Monday.