Garden Grove Police Seize 550 Pounds in Cocaine Bust

LAGUNA HILLS —  Police discovered 550 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $15 million and arrested a young couple in their apartment, authorities said Thursday.

For Garden Grove police, who conducted the investigation and made the arrests, it was the largest cocaine seizure in the department’s history.

“I consider this a sophisticated operation,” said Garden Grove Police Sgt. Scott Watson, a special investigator. “Any time you see this amount of narcotics, you know it’s highly sophisticated.”

Garden Grove police had received a tip a week ago about drug activity in the Laguna Hills area, which led them to the 24100 block of Hollyoak, Garden Grove Lt. John Woods said. On Wednesday, investigators watching the suspects’ apartment saw two people unloading packages from a vehicle and taking them inside.

Police then got a search warrant, and at 11:15 p.m., about a dozen officers raided the one-bedroom apartment. Inside, investigators and a police dog found 250 bricks of powdered cocaine in the apartment. No cash or weapons were found.

Janett Ferrari, 24, and her husband, John Bustos, 27, were booked on suspicion of cocaine distribution and remain at the Orange County Jail on $10-million bail. Police said Bustos originally is from Colombia. The couple lived in the apartment about six months.

“We believe they are involved with an organization,” Watson said, declining to elaborate. “We think they were distributing drugs throughout the county.”

Watson said the investigation is continuing.